While most Black Star fans might think of Abedi Pele or Tony Yeboah, Ghana didn’t feature at a World Cup until 2006. Given that they also went on to play in the next two consecutive tournaments, here is a list of the best players to have represented their nation on international football’s biggest stage.
Michael Essien
Chelsea legend Michael Essien enjoyed a star-studded club career in which he won two Premier League titles, three FA Cups and a Champions League trophy. On the international stage, Essien earned 58 caps for Ghana, and scored nine goals in that time. In all, he played in four World Cup matches, amounting to a total of 289 minutes for the Black Stars.
Now assistant manager at Nordsjaelland, many Ghanaians have made comparisons between Essien and Arsenal’s Thomas Partey. Partey will be one of Ghana’s key players at Qatar 2022, whose tough group opponents and tricky potential route see them have odds with Paddy Power football betting of 11/1 to reach the quarter-finals. With South Korea, Uruguay and Portugal making up the remaining teams in thee group, the website’s football naps consider Cristiano Ronaldo’s side favourites to qualify. Essien will hope Partey can emulate his performances, as Ghana aim to avoid a repeat of 2014’s group stage exit.
Sulley Muntari
Known by Premier League fans for his time at Portsmouth, Muntari enjoyed a more illustrious club career beyond solely the south coast of England. Starting his career at Udinese, the midfielder would return to Italy with Inter, where he was part of Jose Mourinho’s treble-winning team. Muntari scored and assisted two that season, which concluded with a memorable 2-0 victory over Bayern in the Champions League final, as reported by the BBC.
Muntari swapped between both Milan sides for a few seasons before his club career faded away, but the 38-year-old always felt at home with Ghana. With 20 goals in a staggering 84 appearances for the Black Stars, Muntari featured in nine World Cup matches across the 2006, 2010 and 2014 tournaments. Even more impressive were the two goals and assists recorded in that time, meaning he is one of Ghana’s most prolific representatives.
Asamoah Gyan
However, a list of Black Star legends wouldn’t be complete without the inclusion of Asamoah Gyan. Now 36, his club career has also fizzled out, after nearly 18 years of constant movement. In a career spanning a whopping 11 clubs, as per Transfermarkt, notable mentions include Udinese and a spell at Sunderland in which he registered 10 Premier League goals, back in 2010-11. Like Muntari, though, Gyan found his true form when representing his nation.
The striker became Ghana’s all-time leading scorer in World Cup history with his equaliser against Portugal in the 2014 edition of the tournament. Gyan boasts an impressive six World Cup goals across a staggering 11 matches and over 1,000 minutes of action, which make up part of his 51 goals in 107 caps in total for the national side. By most neutrals he will likely be remembered for THAT penalty miss against Uruguay in 2010 – following Luis Suarez’s infamous handball – but to the Black Star faithful he truly is a legend of the game.
While odds will be stacked against them in Qatar, Ghana will once again rely on their grit and determination to spring a few surprises in the tournament. With new stars such as Iñaki Williams and the Ayew brothers, the Black Stars are set to have a new brand of legends after the 2022 World Cup.
