Ghana’s soccer history: Five memorable moments
Soccer is a wonderful game that time and time again has been shown to unite world nations like no other. And it is also the world’s most followed sport at over 3.5 billion fans worldwide.
As the popularity of soccer has increased on a global scale, it is no secret that bets on global football games and bets on football games in Ghana have increased as well. Many good memories have been made in the ‘’Black Stars of Africa’’ era in the 60’s and it is fair to say they have both earned and claimed their fame.
Here are some of Ghana’s top achievements in soccer history:
1. Winning a double African Cup of Nations
Ghana first put itself on the map and claimed the title as one of the African stars in 1962 when they played against Real Madrid (the Spanish and European champions at the time) and managed to draw a 3-3. This was a huge achievement for the team.
Their success could be partially attributed to coach Charles Gyamfi, who became coach a year prior, winning the team a double African Cup of Nations title in the years 1963 and 1965, boasting their record win 13-2 against Kenya.
It got all the way to the finals of the regional tournament even in 1968 and 1970, losing only 1-0 on both occasions. It was exactly these victories that earned it the aforementioned title of the Black African Stars.
2. Winning the FIFA U-20 World Cup
The Ghana national soccer team made a name for itself once again when it had won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2009, with a team consisting of under 20 men.
They managed to claim their grand victory in a harrowing match against Brazil during the penalty rounds with the final standing of 4-3, all of which was due to a beyond amazing performance. This was officially the first time that an African nation had won an official soccer champion tournament.
3. Exceeding the expectations at the World Cup and Africa Cup
The world cup in South Africa was filled with surprises for both Ghana and African football as a whole. The ‘’Black Stars’’ entered the cup with high hopes of lifting the cup as their own.
While they might not have achieved that goal, they left Ghana and Ghanaians proud by being the only African country to advance past the initial rounds. This was exceeding the expectations of their capabilities at the time, marking them as being able to play against officially much stronger teams.
4. Appearance at the 2014 World Cup
It is fair to say Ghana has always had a love for football. Whether it was achieving high strides at their local cups in the 60’s or qualifying for the first cup in the 80’s, it was clear that this country had a passion towards football that strived past amateur games.
At the 2014 Brazil World Cup, they didn’t pass up an opportunity to establish themselves as a promising nation in soccer. Sadly they were eliminated during the group stages and were outplayed in a match against Brazil and Uruguay.
5. Nearly taking home the African Cup of Nations 2015 prize
In 2015, another national cup took place called the African Cup of Nations. The Black Stars had a near miss victory with a two-goal lead on penalties but they somehow lost on 8-9 spot kickouts.
Boubcar Barry had remedied and scored a significant amount of spot-kicks that unfortunately earned Ivory Coast a win over Ghana at the finals. Ghana was sorrowful at this premise, as it seemed like they would finally be the winner of the great African prize.
Conclusion
Football continues to be the leading sports game in the world despite the hurdles that came with the COVID times. Now, people are hungrier than ever for live events. The soccer team of Ghana has definitely demonstrated its place as a regular and elite player in the game. Going forward we expect great results and growth for the team.