Sports and Recreation Minister Kofi Adams has praised the Black Stars for their spirited performance against England at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, describing the team’s display as one of “class” despite their eventual elimination from the tournament.
Ghana advanced to the Round of 32 after beginning their Group L campaign with a 1-0 victory over Panama before securing a goalless draw against England in a disciplined defensive display.
Speaking in an interview with Joy News, Mr Adams said the Black Stars matched one of the strongest teams in the competition despite facing challenges ahead of the tournament.
He explained that several participating countries entered the World Cup with advantages, including longer preparation periods, established technical teams and squads whose players had developed strong chemistry from playing together at club level.
“Where you are coming against teams that possibly have had opportunity to prepare very well and to prepare with managements that have been with them for quite a longer time, a team that may have players that have played in the same club, maybe about four or five of them coming together and having played together for a very long time…” he said.
The Minister acknowledged that Ghana lacked a similar level of cohesion, noting that the team was still building an understanding among players.
“Sometimes, when one player picks a ball and is moving, you can see two, three other players moving into the space that he can lob the ball into them for them to take advantage; we didn’t seem to have that character,” he added.
Despite those limitations, Mr Adams insisted that the Black Stars showed their quality throughout the tournament.
He recalled that Panama considered Ghana their best opportunity for securing points in the group but were defeated by the West Africans.
“When we came against England after winning against Panama, which also thought that if they were going to pick any three points in the group, it was going to be against Ghana, and we defeated them,” he said.
Mr Adams reserved special praise for Ghana’s performance against England, saying the Black Stars displayed discipline and organisation to frustrate one of the tournament favourites.
“We came against England, and we showed a certain class and blocked all their movement. Whether it was hurricane or sugar cane or whatever it was, we blocked all their movement,” he stated.
The Minister also backed concerns raised by some supporters that Ghana may have been denied key decisions during the match, including a possible penalty and a red card incident involving an England player.
“Clearly, it was a game that many thought that Ghana was cheated. That we had a clear penalty that was not given us, and there was a situation that another player of the English class should have been shown a red card, which was not done,” he said.
Ghana’s World Cup campaign ended after a 2-1 defeat to Croatia in their final group match, followed by a narrow 1-0 loss to Colombia in the Round of 32.
The Black Stars will now shift focus to qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, where they have been drawn in Group C alongside Côte d’Ivoire, Somalia and The Gambia. The qualification campaign is scheduled to begin in September.
