Ghana’s national football team, the Black Stars have received a modest boost in the latest FIFA World Rankings, climbing one spot from 77th to 76th globally.
This incremental rise, while not monumental, marks a significant milestone for the team: it’s the first time since April 2024 that they’ve moved upward in the rankings.
Despite this global improvement, Ghana holds steady at 14th in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) region, trailing powerhouses like Morocco, Senegal and Nigeria.
The Black Stars’ climb follows a pair of commanding performances in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in March. Under the stewardship of head coach Otto Addo, Ghana dismantled Chad 5-0 in Accra on March 21, with a clinical display of attacking prowess led by Antoine Semenyo, Inaki Williams, and Jordan Ayew.
Three days later, on March 24, they secured a 3-0 victory over Madagascar in Morocco, showcasing defensive solidity and tactical discipline.
These wins not only bolstered their standing in Group I—where they now lead with 12 points—but also signaled a potential turnaround after a torrid 2024 that saw them miss out on the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) for the first time in two decades.
The rankings boost comes as a welcome reprieve for a team that had been mired in a downward spiral. In 2024, the Black Stars plummeted from 64th to 77th globally between July and November, a slide precipitated by a string of lackluster results, including a winless AFCON qualifying campaign.
A 1-0 home loss to Angola in September snapped a 24-year unbeaten streak at the Baba Yara Stadium, and a subsequent 2-0 defeat to Sudan in October all but sealed their continental fate. By year’s end, Ghana languished at their lowest ebb in recent memory, with fans and pundits alike questioning Addo’s leadership and the Ghana Football Association’s direction.
This latest shift to 76th—eclipsing Israel, who dropped two places—offers a glimmer of hope, though it’s tempered by the team’s unchanged 14th position in Africa.
Morocco continues to dominate the CAF rankings, with Senegal, Egypt, and Côte d’Ivoire rounding out the top tier, their consistency in major tournaments setting a high bar. For Ghana, the challenge remains bridging the gap to Africa’s elite while sustaining momentum on the global stage.
As the Black Stars look toward their next fixtures—potentially a four-nation tournament in iand World Cup qualifiers against Chad and Mali in September—Addo faces mounting pressure to solidify this uptick.
The rise to 76th, though modest, is a step forward for a team eager to reclaim its storied legacy.
