Author: Nana Beeko || A Concerned Black Stars Fan
Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in USA, Mexico and Canada, I must admit that as a Ghanaian football supporter, I am tired. Tired of the excuses. Tired of the endless public relations spin. Tired of being told to trust a process that has produced more disappointment than progress. Most of all, I am tired of watching the Black Stars suffer from decisions that seem to defy common football sense.
Under Kurt E. S. Okraku’s leadership, Ghana football has become a masterclass in lowered expectations. Every setback is followed by another promise. Every failure is accompanied by another explanation. Yet the results remain painfully familiar.
At some point, leadership must stop blaming circumstances and start accepting responsibility.
Results are the ultimate report card in football, and Ghana’s report card over the last few years has been far from impressive.
Nothing symbolizes this frustration more than the continued resurrection of players who many supporters believe have long exhausted their credit with the national team.
Baba Rahman is perhaps the most controversial example. For years, many fans have questioned what exactly he continues to offer the Black Stars that younger, hungrier and more consistent performers cannot.
Football is ruthless. Form matters. Performance matters. Merit matters. National team call-ups should not be lifetime appointments handed out on the basis of past reputation.
Yet somehow, Ghana keeps returning to the same names, the same experiments, and the same disappointments while expecting different outcomes.
The memories of the 2022 World Cup remain a scar on the conscience of Ghana football. Defensive mistakes, poor concentration, tactical confusion and costly lapses became recurring themes throughout the tournament.
Many supporters remain convinced that lessons from those failures were never truly learned. Instead, some of the very decisions that contributed to those disappointments continued to be repeated.
The equaliser against Wales tonight remains one of the most painful examples. When a team fails to maintain discipline and concentration in the dying moments of a match, questions must be asked.
Supporters watched valuable honor disappear and were left wondering whether accountability would ever follow. For many, it never will.
The deeper problem is not Baba Rahman alone. The deeper problem is a football culture that appears increasingly resistant to accountability.
Too often, it seems that poor performances carry no consequences. Too often, criticism is treated as hostility rather than a legitimate demand for better standards.
Then there is the Otto Addo chapter—a period that many fans view as one of the most frustrating coaching tenures in recent Black Stars history.
Month after month, supporters raised concerns. Match after match, familiar weaknesses resurfaced. Yet the leadership appeared determined to stay the course regardless of the evidence unfolding on the pitch.
The result was predictable. Valuable time was lost. Momentum was lost. Confidence was lost.
What makes matters worse is that after allowing years of stagnation, Ghana suddenly expects a new coach to arrive and perform miracles in a matter of days.
That is not football administration. That is wishful thinking masquerading as strategy.
No coach—not even one with the credentials of Carlos Queiroz—can instantly erase years of poor planning, inconsistent selection policies and declining standards.
The real damage was done long before any new coach walked through the door. It was done through delayed decisions, misplaced loyalty and a refusal to confront uncomfortable realities.
Ghanaian football fans are among the most passionate in Africa. They fill stadiums, dominate conversations, defend the national team and remain loyal even when that loyalty is not rewarded.
What they deserve in return is competence. What they deserve is transparency. What they deserve is a football administration that places performance above personal Godfather preferences and national interest above sentiment.
The tragedy is that Ghana possesses enough talent to compete with the best on the continent. The problem has never been shortage of players. The problem has been a shortage of consistently good decisions.
Until accountability becomes more important than loyalty, until merit becomes more important than familiarity, and until results become more important than excuses, the Black Stars will continue to drift.
And as that drift continues, millions of Ghanaian supporters will keep asking the same painful question: how many more failures must be endured before those in charge finally accept responsibility?
This version is substantially tougher, more confrontational, and more critical while staying within the bounds of opinion rather than making unverified accusations of criminal conduct.
