Jerome Opoku: “Ghana is hungrier to qualify for the FIFA World Cup”

Photo Credit - Ghana Football Association.

For the first time in over two decades, Ghana will be missing at the Africa Cup of Nations, a situation which has left citizens of the West African nation asking questions about the decline of the senior national team.

The Black Stars finished bottom of Group F in a pairing that included Angola, Sudan and Niger. The four time African champions collected a paltry three points to fall behind third place Niger by four points and Sudan by five points with Angola topping the chat with 14 points.

After exiting the tournament at the Group stage from the last edition in Ivory Coast, Ghana will not be represented at the next tournament to be staged in Morocco.

The Black Stars have however given Ghanaians some hope to rely on after reviving the 2026 FIFA World Cup dreams with two consecutive wins against Chad and Madagascar – beating the former 5-0 in Accra before completing a fine 3-0 finish against the latter in Morocco.

They currently sit top of Group I on 15 points after six qualifying matches and defender of the national team, Jerome Opoku has stated that, the failure to qualify for the AFCON has spurred them on to fight and book a slot for next year’s World Cup in Canada, USA and Mexico.

Black Stars defender, Jerome Opoku, says their failure to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament has revived the team to secure qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“We have much bigger motivation now,” Opoku told Flashscore. “Missing out on the AFCON was a huge disappointment for us, for the fans, and for the whole country. That setback has given us a deeper hunger to make things right by qualifying for the World Cup.”

“I am 200% confident of qualifying,” he declared. “That’s the goal, and we know it won’t come easy. But we’ve regrouped, and we’re determined to give everything to stay on top and get the job done."

The Black Stars will take on Chad and Mali in the Match day 7 and 8 games in September later this year before wrapping up their games against Central African Republic and Comoros.