The National Sports Authority (NSA) has announced a reduction in the number of tickets it will make available for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Comoros.

The game scheduled for Sunday, October 12 at the Accra Sports Stadium, which has a capacity of about 40,000, will have its attendance capped to 35,000, with extra fan parks created to reduce congestion in the stadium”, the NSA CEO has announced.

He made the disclosure during a media engagement on Thursday, October 9, in Accra, during a press engagement where he addressed questions and clarified misconceptions surrounding the organisation and preparations ahead of the match.

According to him, the ticket prices for Sunday include VVIP GH₵1,000, the popular Stand will cost GH₵50, and GH₵100 for centre line, GH₵ 25 for lower VIP and GH₵500 for upper VIP.

“The stadium can hold just under 40,000 people, but we’re not printing tickets for full capacity. A total of 35,000 tickets will be printed. Ticket samples are here, and there will be security features added”, Mr Ampofo noted.

Also, the Ministry of Sports and Recreation earlier announced the ticket prices explaining that “the pricing structure is designed to make the game accessible to fans from all walks of life.”

Ghana’s last home match in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Mali on September 8 was marked by chaotic ticket sales, with fans crowding the stadium gates in a last-minute rush to buy tickets on the match day.To prevent a recurrence, Yaw Ampofo Ankrah, confirmed that ticket sales for the upcoming match against Comoros will officially close at 3 pm on Sunday, even though the match starts at 7 pm.

According to him, “Please note that on match day, tickets will not be sold after 3 pm. The match is at 7 pm, and the reason for this is that we don’t want the challenges we had the last time, where fans were crowding around the stadium looking to purchase tickets. It must be very clear. We intend not to have a rush as we did in the Ghana versus Chad game, where a lot of fans came to the gates without tickets, intending to buy tickets on the day."

“Almost everybody wants to be present to watch the Black Stars game on Sunday. That is the reason why we’ve called you, to give you an update on what we’re doing and to ensure that the right communication goes out there. I’ve read and seen so many things, and it’s a bit worrying because if we’re not careful, we may have too many people showing up, claiming they were told to come”.

Mr Ampofo recounted how fans breached security to enter the stadium to see the match against Mali. Consequently, he noted that “the most important thing is to know how we are packaging this game, and security is our number one priority. This is because of past experiences with unpleasant situations where fans breached security barriers and rushed into the stadium. We don’t want that to happen again”.

The Ghana Black Stars have moved a rank higher in the latest FIFA ranking. This comes after their recent performances in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

The team have climbed from 76th to 75th. The Black Stars, after two matches with Chad and Mali, respectively, still sit atop Group 1 with 19 points, despite drawing with Chad on September 4 at the Stade Olympique Maréchal Idriss Déby Itno in N'Djamena.

However, they had a win in their clash with Mali. Black Stars led by a goal, securing for themselves three (3) extra points and a point from Chad’s draw.

Despite the global improvement, their standing in Africa remains unchanged, with the four-time African champions still ranked 14th on the continent.

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.