The Black Stars Coach, Otto Addo, has acknowledged that Ghana faces a daunting challenge in Group L of the 2026 FIFA World Cup but remains confident that his team has the quality to overcome all opponents, including favourites England.
Ghana was drawn last Friday alongside European heavyweights England and Croatia, as well as Caribbean side Panama, in what many analysts consider one of the tournament’s trickier groups.
Reacting to the draw, Coach Addo admitted that the Black Stars would have to work “extra hard” to qualify from the group but insisted the team was capable of beating anyone on their way.
“It’s going to be tough, I can say, but surely we have the quality to beat all of them — and also England,” he said.
While England is widely seen as the biggest obstacle to Ghana’s progress, Addo stressedthat none of the teams should be underestimated, including Panama, whom many believed the Black Stars should beat comfortably.
“It’s going to be a tough group; we can’t take any game easy,” he warned, saying, “I know some people might think that as for Panama we’ll just beat them, but that is wrong thinking. We have to take it seriously and prepare ourselves very well.”
Addo revealed that Ghana would approach the tournament one match at a time, focusing on careful analysis of recent matches and tactical preparation. He pointed to Senegal’s recent victory over England as proof that big names could be beaten.
“We have to take it step by step. We have to prepare well, look into recent games, and prepare our players properly. I know that on a good day we can also beat them, just like Senegal did — but on a bad day it will also be difficult,” he noted.
He described England as clear favourites in the group, given their Pot 1 status and abundance of world-class talent.
“They are the favourites; otherwise, they wouldn’t be in Pot 1. They have a lot of superstars, a lot of good players, and we have to be on our toes to compete with them,” Addo added.
Meanwhile, Croatia Coach Zlatko Dalić appeared unfazed by facing an African opponent in the group stage. Recalling Croatia’s previous World Cup encounters with Algeria, Nigeria and Morocco, he dismissed the idea that playing Ghana presented anything unusual.
“My first World Cup was against Algeria, and it was 2-0, and then Morocco, who did a fantastic job,” he said. Facing Ghana, he added, was “nothing special” and that once Croatia got its tactics right, “we will be fine”.
