Ghana’s quest to play at a fifth FIFA World Cup tournament will start on Friday, November 17.
The Black Stars will take on Group I opponent Madagascar in the first game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Ghana in the past played at the 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2022, editions of the global tournament.
With a number of young talents currently in the Black Stars squad, the national team has a strong belief that qualifying for the next mundial is important.
To get to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Ghana must get off to a good start in the qualifiers.
Here is a preview of the important game against Madagascar.
Form:
The Black Stars are heading into the opening game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers on a rather bad note.
The Ghana national team last month featured in two friendly games but failed to win any.
The Black Stars first lost 2-0 to Mexico before being humbled 4-0 by the USMNT.
On the back of the two defeats last month, there is pressure on Ghana head coach Chris Hughton.
His opponent, Madagascar also played two matches last month.
Unlike, Ghana, the Barea won one game [2-1] over Benin after losing 2-1 to Mauritania.
The win over Benin particularly gave the team a lot of confidence during preparations for the Ghana game.
Head-to-head:
Ghana and Madagascar at the senior national team level have been involved in two games.
The first game in 2022 went the way of Ghana as the Black Stars led by poster boy Mohammed Kudus secured an emphatic 3-0 victory at home.
The reverse fixture in the qualifiers for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations tournament ended in a goalless draw in Antananarivo.
Pre-match:
Speaking in a pre-match press conference, Ghana head coach Chris Hughton disclosed that there is pressure on him.
Nonetheless, the Irish-Ghanaian tactician is confident that his lads will be victorious at the end of the 90 minutes.
“The pressure that I am under as head coach and I am always under is to win football matches.
“We want to be able to win football matches and score lots of goals and concede none. This is heaven but we can’t always have that. What is important is to make sure that we win,” Coach Chris Hughton said.
On his part, the head coach of Madagascar, Romuald Rakotondrabe stressed that his team did not travel all the way to Ghana for holidays.
He indicated that they are here to secure a win to upset the odds.
“We didn’t come to Ghana for holidays. We came to win. We are going to do anything possible to win against the Black Stars,” coach Romuald Rakotondrabe said.
Score prediction:
Ghana certainly is currently not in a good place and not doing well as a national team. That notwithstanding, the quality in the Black Stars camp and the support the national team will receive on the matchday will be enough to inspire the team to victory.
Ghana 3-1 Madagascar
Match details:
The game between Ghana and Madagascar will be played at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium on Friday, November 17.
The match will kick off at 16:00gmt.
