Black Stars head coach Carlos Queiroz says Ghana decided not to risk Mohammed Kudus in the opening 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers after getting new information about the Tottenham Hotspur forward’s recovery from injury.
Kudus was first included in the 24-man squad to play against Côte d’Ivoire and The Gambia after coming back from the long injury that kept him out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
However, the 26-year-old later pulled out after more talks with Tottenham about his fitness. Ghana’s technical team chose to let him keep recovering with his club.
“As national team coaches, we can’t control the decision of club coaches. It looked like Kudus was moving in the right direction [with regard to his fitness], but later on the information we got did not progress in the direction we expected,” Queiroz said.
“So the final decision was to protect Kudus for his progress to continue.”
Kudus recently returned to play for Tottenham, appearing against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup and Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Mohammed Fuseini has been called up to boost Ghana’s attack while Kudus is out.
The Black Stars will start their qualifying campaign against Côte d’Ivoire in Bouaké on Thursday, then host The Gambia on 29 September. Ghana will then play Morocco in an international friendly on 4 October.
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