Ghana legend Asamoah Gyan has expressed confidence that the Black Stars will give their best shot at qualifying for their fifth World Cup, despite being drawn into a challenging Group I. The 37-year-old, who recently retired as Africa’s all-time top scorer at the World Cup and Ghana’s record goalscorer with 51 goals in 109 appearances, believes the team can navigate the tricky group.
Ghana will face Mali, Madagascar, Central African Republic, Comoros, and Chad after Thursday’s draw in Ivory Coast. Gyan, who was part of the draw ceremony alongside other African football legends, acknowledged the high expectations back home but urged optimism.
“It is not going to be easy because the expectation is high back home. We will try our possible best to make sure we also qualify,” Gyan said. “Since we qualified to the World Cup for the first time in 2006, we are getting used to the World Cup. We’ll do our best to qualify for the tournament.”
Ghana are the only team in their group with prior World Cup experience and will aim to surpass previous campaigns, having exited at the group stage in both the 2014 and 2022 tournaments.
Qualification for the 2026 World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, will see the nine group winners earn automatic spots. The four best runners-up will enter a mini play-off, with the winner advancing to an intercontinental play-off, giving Africa the potential for a 10th representative at the finals.
Gyan’s optimism reflects Ghana’s determination to return to the global stage and make a stronger impact in 2026.
