World Cup: Ghana hires coach Carlos Queiroz to guide Black Stars

Experienced Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz will coach Ghana at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after the country’s football association announced his hiring Monday.

🆕 Carlos Queiroz appointed @GhanaBlackstars Head Coach for 2026 FIFA World Cup 🏆https://t.co/xR6X6V2nf6

— 🇬🇭 Ghana Football Association (@ghanafaofficial) April 13, 2026

The 73-year-old will coach at his fourth World Cup, having previously led Iran at the 2018 and 2022 editions as well as his native Portugal at the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

Queiroz was most recently with the Oman national team, where he reportedly stepped down three weeks ago due to regional instability caused by the ongoing war in the Gulf Region. After coaching Iran at the 2022 edition in Qatar, the veteran tactician guided the Qatar national team in 2023 from February through December that year before taking a hiatus.

The veteran has a long and storied career. He began his head coaching career with Lisbon heavyweights Sporting CP before coaching club teams in the United States and Japan. His first experience in African football came with the South Africa national team, where he guided Bafana Bafana to qualification for the 2002 World Cup before resigning before the finals.

He also led the Egypt national team, taking the Pharaohs to the final of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations where they fell to champions Senegal following a penalty shootout.

Queiroz was also an assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United with two spells sandwiched by a stint as head coach at Real Madrid. He left Old Trafford in 2008 to take the reins with the Portugal team, beginning fifteen years in charge of national teams that also included Colombia, Egypt and most notably Iran where he coached over 100 matches with the Asian powerhouse.

Little preparation time for Queiroz as Ghana prepare for World Cup

His new team are counting on Queiroz to guide the Black Stars to a respectable showing at the 2026 finals co-hosted by Mexico, Canada and the United States. A difficult challenge awaits in Group L, where they are grouped with England, Panama and Croatia.

Their opening match will be against Panama on June 17 in Toronto, Canada before traveling to the USA to face England (June 23) in Foxboro, Massachusetts and Croatia (June 27) in Philadelphia.

A disastrous March FIFA window saw previous coach Otto Addo dismissed following two friendly defeats in Europe. The Black Stars were thrashed 1-5 by Austria in Vienna before falling 1-2 to Germany in Stuttgart.

Now Queiroz arrives with a monumental task to whip his new charges into shape with less than sixty days until the finals begin on June 11. At the moment, he only has two official friendly matches before the tournament opener when the Black Stars face co-hosts Mexico on May 22 before dueling with Wales on June 2.