The Black Stars will depart for Côte d’Ivoire today, Wednesday, September 23, ahead of their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against the Elephants.

Ghana is currently in the same group with three other teams, including Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, and Somalia, and among the four teams, only two will progress.

Ghana will open its 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign against Côte d’Ivoire in Bouaké on Thursday, September 24.

The Black Stars have been training in Accra since Monday, with 18 players taking part in Tuesday’s session at the Accra Sports Stadium, and their final preparatory training scheduled to be held in Bouaké on Wednesday before facing the hosts.

The squad has been hit by a number of withdrawals, with Jordan Ayew, Mohammed Kudus, Antoine Semenyo, Baba Rahman, Alidu Seidu, Nathaniel Adjei and Prince Kwabena Adu unavailable over fitness and injuries.

Inaki Williams also announced his retirement.

The Black Stars will return home after Thursday’s match to face The Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium on 27 September.

Ghana missed out on the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco and will be seeking to secure a place at the next edition, which will be staged in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in 2027.

The Black Stars will conclude the international window with a friendly against Morocco at the Grand Stade de Tanger on 4 October.

Player withdrawal, GFA response

The GFA has responded to the growing list of absentees by making several additions to the squad.

Jonas Adjetey, Alidu Seidu, Ebenezer Annan, Rockson Yeboah, Rahim Ibrahim, Brandon Thomas-Asante, Mohammed Fuseini, Benjamin Tetteh and Felix Afena-Gyan were added following the medical uncertainties.

However, Seidu has since also become unavailable, further complicating Queiroz’s plans.

The GFA has said the changes were necessitated by “medical uncertainties presented by some players.”

Coach reaction

Despite the setbacks, Queiroz has since set his focus on finding replacements.

Speaking ahead of the qualifiers, the Portuguese coach described the situation as having “a couple of holes in our boat” but said the technical team was working to fix them.

“We keep sailing strong and our job in the last 48 hours is to fix those issues,” Queiroz said.

He also stressed that Ghana has little time to prepare, with the squad only coming together shortly before the opening qualifier.

“There is no room for great decisions, no room for development, only room to deliver,” he said.