Ghana’s mediocre AFCON 2023 meant Otto Addo was given a rare opportunity to return as Black Stars head coach as he replaced boss Chris Hughton, but the former international midfielder and Borussia Dortmund coach is squandering it.
He has not been a success even though his team has done better in the World Cup 2026 qualifiers, securing back-to-back wins against Mali and Central African Republic to occupy the 2nd position in Group I with 9 points behind Comoros.
Addo, who was in charge of Ghana at FIFA World Cup 2022, has not done a good job in the AFCON 2025 qualification series with his team winless in four qualifiers and is on the brink of becoming the first coach not to qualify the Black Stars to the Africa Cup of Nations since Bukhard Ziese in 2004.
In their last outings, the Black Stars were poor against Sudan with the Falcons of Jediane drawing and dominating Otto Addo’s men in Ghana and Libya respectively.
Kwesi Appiah’s men held the Ghanaian team in a scrappy 0-0 affair at the Accra Sports Stadium on October 10th before securing a massive 2-0 triumph against the 4-time African champions at Martyrs of February Stadium five days later. These results reinforced Sudan as the second team in the Group F standings with 7 points.
With Angola already qualified for the tournament finals on 12 points with two games to spare, Appiah and his Sudanese charges need only a point to make it to the next AFCON and the spirited attitude and doggedness they have showcased under the Ghanaian trainer means this target is within their capability.
Heading into the final two qualifiers, Addo’s underperforming Black Stars need to pick up two wins in three days – on the road against Angola on Friday and home ground versus Niger on Monday – and on top of that hope for Sudan to lose both games to Niger and Angola. This is certainly daunting, to say the least.
But that is the only way Mohammed Kudus, Jordan Ayew, Lawrence Ati-Zigi, and their friends could avoid the shame of becoming the first Black Stars team to fail to qualify for an AFCON tournament in 20 years.
When the draw was done back in July, the Black Stars were considered the biggest favorites to win the group and anyone who thought so was right given the Ghana have not missed an AFCON tournament since 2004. Therefore Sudan and Angola were expected to battle for the second position with Niger seen as the weakest side of the four.
However, after four rounds of fixtures, the Angolans and Sudanese have made nonsense of the predictions of the connoisseurs, with the duo set to display at 2025 AFCON to the detriment of the so-called favorites Black Stars.
A pitiful performance in the 1-0 home loss to the Palancas Negras in Kumasi was followed by a drab 1-1 away draw against Niger. The team failed to glitter in their second home qualifier in Accra as Sudan snatched a point before imposing a chastening 2-0 defeat on the Black Stars in the reverse meeting in Benghazi.
It is quite disheartening to note a once-consistent Black Stars which reached AFCON finals in 2010 and 2015 is on the verge of collapsing, failing to win one of 24 berths to play at the continent’s most prestigious football event. It is not acceptable.
On the flip side is 64-year Kwesi Appiah, a former Ghana head coach who took over the Sudanese national team in September last year to bring smiles back to the faces of people whose country has slumped into a civil conflict.
Bereft of European-based stars, Appiah’s charges sit at the summit of their World Cup 2026 qualifying group with 10 points collected from 4 matches and are just a point away from picking their AFCON 2025 ticket.
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