The Confederation of African Football Awards (CAF) has nominated the Black Stars of Ghana for the National Team of the Year category at the upcoming 2025 regional awards.

Though the senior national team failed to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), for the first time in ten years, the four-time African champions bounced back strongly to secure a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Their stunning display, having completed the 2026 World Cup qualifiers atop Group I with 25 points from 10 matches, has earned them a nomination spot in this year’s continental honours.

Ghana will compete against other top national teams, including Morocco, Senegal, Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, the reigning African champions, Cape Verde, who recently clinched their first-ever World Cup berth, and the Atlas Cubs of Morocco, current U-20 world champions.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is yet to announce the official date and venue for the prestigious 2025 awards ceremony.

The last FIFA ranking, which was released about a month ago, placed Ghana a spot higher, from 76th to 75th, following the Black Stars’ matches against Mali and Chad. The team earned three extra points from those games.

They have now moved two places in the latest FIFA World Ranking, following their last performance in the qualifiers. The four-time African champions now sit 73rd in the world after a successful October international window.

Despite this progress on the global stage, Ghana remain 14th in Africa. In July, Ghana’s Black Stars fell about six places in FIFA’s rankings at the time.

This was after their loss to Angola and a 1-1 draw with Niger during the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers in September during the international break.

In the ranking released on July 10, Ghana ranked 76th in the FIFA World Rankings. This leaves the former African giant out of the top 10 national teams as they continue the push to rejoin the continent’s elite.

According to the July ranking, Argentina still held its spot as number one, followed by Spain, France, and then England, with Brazil taking the fifth spot.

In Africa, Morocco sat on top with its 12th position on the global level with 1,698.72 points. Senegal also moved a spot up from its 19th position last year. Egypt dropped to 34 on the global scale but remained 3rd in Africa despite its slight dip from the 32nd position, which was caused by a quiet international window with no matches played since March.

Meanwhile, other teams gained points through qualifiers and friendlies, allowing them to climb higher in the rankings.

Algeria (36th), Nigeria (44th) and the Ivory Coast (45th) follow closely, despite the latter’s recent AFCON success. Tunisia (49th), Cameroon (51st), Mali (54th) and South Africa (57th) round out the African top ten, with Ghana sitting just outside the group.

Meanwhile, Ghana sealed their place at the 2026 World Cup with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Comoros in their final Group I qualifier at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday, October 12, marking the country’s fifth appearance at football’s biggest tournament.

While they look forward to finding out who their group-stage opponents will be when the official draw is held on December 5, they will embark on an Asian tour to face South Korea and Japan as part of their preparations for the World Cup next year.

This was officially announced by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) on October 9, in a press release following Ghana’s 5–0 victory over the Central African Republic.

The first clash is scheduled for November 14 in Toyota as part of the prestigious Kirin Cup, against Japan, before they travel to Seoul to face South Korea three days later, on November 17.

Both Japan and South Korea have already booked their places at the 2026 World Cup and are expected to field full-strength lineups, providing Ghana with a crucial test ahead of next year’s continental and global competitions.

The Asian tour forms part of the Ghana Football Association’s broader plan to give coach Otto Addo the platform to evaluate his squad and fine-tune tactics before the global showpiece.

Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama hopes the Black Stars will aim higher beyond their qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He has urged the team to emulate Morocco and, in broader terms, envision doing more.

President Mahama cited Morocco as a model because it made history at the 2022 FIFA World Cup by becoming the first African nation to reach the semi-finals.

Referring to an unforgettable situation in the history of Ghana football, where Asamoah’s penalty miss cost Ghana’s place in the semi-finals, he urged the team,

“We must follow in the footsteps of Morocco by going beyond the semi-finals and, who knows, with fingers crossed, bring the World Cup trophy home to make Ghana and Africa proud”.

He further went on to call on Ghanaians to support the team without any bias.

“We must all rally behind the Black Stars. We must support them to the hilt. Let’s not bring in any partisan or ethnic considerations. Let’s give them our full support,” he added.

Otto Addo has hinted that, based on the team’s current ranking by the global football governing body, FIFA, Ghana is likely to face strong opponents at next year’s tournament.

Speaking to Citi Sports ahead of the tournament draw on December 5, Addo stated that “I know that at the moment Ghana is not ranked high, so probably we will get a tough group, so we have to expect that we get tougher opponents in our group and we have to deal with it,” the 49-year-old added.

However, Addo remained optimistic, citing his excitement about the team’s prospects and commitment to conquering the group stage.

However, Addo remained optimistic, citing his excitement about the team’s prospects and commitment to conquering the group stage.

“We will see what we will get, and I’m excited about that. For me, the most important thing is to overcome the group stage,” he added.

With this qualification, Addo has become the first coach in Ghanaian football history to lead the Black Stars to consecutive World Cup appearances, having guided the team to the 2022 edition in Qatar.

In a separate interview, Otto Addo responded to growing concerns regarding his player selection for the global football tournament, the FIFA 2026 World Cup.

Speaking during an interview with 3Sports, which was aired on Tuesday, October 15, Otto Addo explicitly stated that players who have ignored their calls despite continuous efforts from the national team’s technical staff since 2021 should not expect any call-up now that the Black Stars have secured their ticket to the World Cup.