Sports and Recreation Minister Kofi Adams stated that the Black Stars might have achieved greater success at the 2026 FIFA World Cup if Carlos Queiroz had been appointed sooner.
The veteran Portuguese coach replaced Otto Addo in April, only weeks before the tournament, which limited his time to prepare the squad.
Despite limited preparation, Adams believes Queiroz transformed the team and exceeded the expectations of many Ghanaians.
In an interview with Joy News, the Minister cited Ghana’s poor pre-World Cup friendlies as evidence of low confidence in the team before Queiroz’s arrival.
Adams noted that under the 73-year-old coach, the Black Stars became more organized, tactically disciplined, and competitive.
“If you look at the losses we suffered in all our friendlies after qualification, you couldn’t be confident that everything would be fine. But if you watched the strategy of the new coach, Carlos, and our performances against Wales, Panama, England, and even Croatia, you could clearly see that with more time, much more could have been achieved,” he said.
“I don’t think the coach was bad. I believe that if he had been given the opportunity to oversee almost all our friendlies after qualification, we could have achieved a much better result than we did.”
Adams added that expectations were modest due to the team’s inconsistent performances before Queiroz took charge, and many supporters doubted Ghana’s ability to compete at the highest level.
In their fifth FIFA World Cup appearance, the Black Stars began with a 1-0 win over Panama, followed by a goalless draw against England.
A 2-1 loss to Croatia in their final Group L match placed Ghana third, but they advanced to the Round of 32 as one of the best third-placed teams.
Ghana’s World Cup campaign ended with a narrow 1-0 defeat to Colombia, with Jhon Arias scoring the decisive goal.
With the World Cup concluded, the Black Stars will now focus on the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. They have been drawn in Group C with Côte d’Ivoire, Somalia, and The Gambia. Qualifiers begin in September.
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