Kevin-Prince Boateng, a former Ghana international, says the main reason the Black Stars were knocked out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup was a lack of team spirit.
Ghana’s World Cup run ended in the Round of 32 after a close 1-0 loss to Colombia at Kansas City Stadium. Jhon Arias scored the only goal, sending Colombia to the Round of 16.
After the match, Boateng told SBS Sport that Ghana’s early exit was not because of a lack of talent, but because the team was not united.
He explained that it was always going to be hard to build strong team spirit, since head coach Carlos Queiroz was appointed just weeks before the tournament.
“It’s missing the team spirit, and I said that before the tournament. If Ghana builds that team spirit, which is difficult because the coach came in just a month before, but you need to build that team spirit,” he said.
Boateng compared Ghana’s memorable 2010 World Cup run, when the Black Stars reached the quarter-finals, to their disappointing 2014 campaign.
“We had team spirit in 2010. In 2014“We had team spirit in 2010. In 2014, we didn’t have team spirit. That’s why we went home. It’s all about the spirit.” Dfielder also highlighted the success of emerging football nations, arguing that unity has become one of the biggest ingredients for success on the international stage.
“If you see Cabo Verde, Curaçao, all these small nations, they survive, and they threaten the big nations. Why? Because they have team spirit. Morocco, team spirit. That’s what it’s about, especially in a tournament in a short time,” Boateng added.
Ghana reached the World Cup knockout stage for the first time since 2010 after finishing second in Group L, but their hopes of a deeper run ended with a first-round knockout loss to Colombia.
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