Black Stars head coach Carlos Queiroz has urged Ghana to honestly confront its long wait for another Africa Cup of Nations title, as the four-time champions open their 2027 qualifying campaign.
Ghana has not lifted the AFCON since 1982 in Libya — a gap of 44 years the Portuguese coach says the country must take a critical look at it without flinching if it wants to close it.
Speaking to the press in Accra following his reappointment, Queiroz framed the drought as a question Ghanaian football needs to sit with rather than explain away.
“Why are we not winning the Africa Cup of Nations for 44 years? That’s the question that we have to assess in an honest way, professional way, competitive way, to find the solutions to rebuild that dream and make it happen,” he said.
For Queiroz, Ghana’s history in the tournament — four titles, a rich tradition of AFCON football — is less a source of nostalgia than a foundation the current squad has failed to build on.
Godwin Attram: From PSV Eindhoven To The Black Stars Bench
The Black Stars have flirted with ending the wait several times, reaching the final as recently as 2015, when they lost to Côte d’Ivoire on penalties. But the more painful marker of Ghana’s recent AFCON struggles came when the team failed to qualify for the 2025 tournament in Morocco, breaking a run of AFCON appearances that had stretched back decades.
Queiroz has been clear that reaching the tournament isn’t the ambition; competing for the trophy is.
“I hope that dream will be reduced by one year and we can be in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations. I hope so. That’s my dream,” he said.
Ghana opens its 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign against Côte d’Ivoire in Bouaké on September 24, before hosting The Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium on September 27. The Black Stars will also play a friendly against Morocco in Tangier on October 4 as part of their build-up.
The 2027 tournament itself will be jointly hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania — the first AFCON to be staged across three countries. For Queiroz, these opening qualifiers are the first step toward a campaign he hopes will finally end Ghana’s wait for a fifth continental title.