The schedule for Ghana’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches has been made public, and the Black Stars are scheduled to play Madagascar to kick off the campaign.
A challenging Group I has been created for Chris Hughton’s team, which also includes Mali, the Central African Republic (CAR), Comoros, and Chad.
The Black Stars will host Madagascar in their opening group match of the November 2023 international window before traveling to face Comoros.
🚨Black Stars start the 2026 World Cup qualifiers by hosting Madagascar at home and then traveling to Comoros from 13-21 November 2023.
In the next round, we'll have an away match against Mali and a home match against C.A.R.
📝 Here's our schedule for the qualifiers! 🇬🇭⚽️ pic.twitter.com/exJMVcuVrp
— 🇬🇭 Black Stars (@GhanaBlackstars) September 14, 2023
The team’s following match will take place during the international window in June, when Ghana will face off against CAR on matchday four of the first round and their main group rivals Mali in Bamako.
The Black Stars will then resume their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in March 2025 with home matches against Chad and away matches against Madagascar.
Hughton and his team will play Chad and Mali in the rematches in September 2025 in an effort to advance to the Mundial, which will be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
In the final two games of the qualification series, Ghana will compete against Comoros and CAR in September 2025.
Hughton has led the Black Stars to an undefeated record and recently qualified the team for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 2-1 victory over CAR.
After participating in the 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2022 World Cups, the Irishman will be hoping to advance the West African nation to their fifth World Cup in the previous six iterations.
In their Tuesday international friendly at the Accra Sports Stadium, Ghana easily defeated Liberia 3-1.
Chris Hughton’s team romped to victory thanks to goals from Ernest Nuamah, Mohammed Kudus, and Jordan Ayew in the second half. Liberia’s consolation goal was scored by Divine Teah.
After receiving a lovely pass and putting a shot between the legs of the Liberian goalkeeper, Nuamah opened the scoring for Ghana on minute 51 of the second half.
When he set up Kudus to double the Black Stars’ lead in the 73rd minute, the Lyon star transitioned from scorer to provider.
