Desmond Offei to lead Black Stars against Mexico as Carlos Queiroz misses friendly due to personal reasons
Assistant Coach Desmond Offei will take charge of the Black Stars in Friday's international friendly against Mexico in Puebla, following the absence of Head Coach Carlos Queiroz due to personal reasons, the Ghana Football Association has confirmed.
Offei, who has supervised the team's preparations since arrival in Mexico, will be assisted by goalkeepers' trainer Daniel Gaspar and set-piece coach and video analyst Gregory De Grauwe. The match forms part of Ghana's preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where the Black Stars will face Panama, England, and Croatia in the group stage.
Twenty-two players in camp
Twenty-two players have arrived in Puebla for the international friendly, with the Black Stars having been camping since Sunday. Defenders Terry Yegbe, Nathaniel Adjei, and Jan Kwasi Gyamerah joined the rest of the squad on Tuesday, completing the contingent for the fixture.
The squad includes goalkeepers Benjamin Asare, Solomon Agbasi, and Ebenezer Adade; defenders David Oduro, Nathaniel Adjei, Razak Simpson, Terry Yegbe, Ebenezer Abban, Dacosta Antwi, Oscar Oppong, and Jan Kwasi Gyamerah; midfielders Majeed Ashimeru, Salim Adams, Emmanuel Agyei, Aziz Issah, and Ibrahim Osman; and forwards Joseph Opoku, Prince Amoako, Jerry Afriyie, Felix Afena-Gyan, Daniel Agyei, and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi.
Match details
Ghana have lined up the fixture as part of their build-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be staged in Mexico, Canada, and the United States in June. The Black Stars will come up against one of the World Cup co-hosts on Saturday, 23rd May 2026, with kick-off scheduled for 2:00 am Ghana time.
The game will be the first of three friendlies lined up for Queiroz's team, with matches against Wales and Jamaica also in the pipeline. Mexico are using the game for the same purpose as Ghana, as both nations fine-tune their preparations for the global tournament.
The match will be played at the Estadio Cuauhtémoc in Puebla, Mexico.
