Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

is the most popular sport in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

. Since 1957, the sport has been administered by the

Ghana Football Association The Ghana Football Association (GFA) is a governing body of association football, based in Accra. Founded in 1957, it was dissolved with "immediate effect", according to Minister of Sport, Isaac Kwame Asiamah, on 7 June 2018, after the uncoveri ...

. Internationally, Ghana is represented by the male Black Stars and the female

Black Queens The Ghana women's national football team represents Ghana in international women's football. It is governed by the Ghana Football Association. Its players are known as the ''Black Queens''. History The beginning The Ghana women's national t ...

. The top male domestic football league in Ghana is the

Ghana Premier League The is the top professional association football division of the football league system in Ghana. Officially formed in 1956 to replace a previous league incarnation, the Gold Coast Club Competition (which began in 1933 and ended in 1953–54), ...

, and the top female domestic football league in Ghana is the Ghana Women's Football League.

History

It is on record that the game of football was introduced into the Gold Coast region towards the close of the 19th century by merchants from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

. Sailors during their leisure times played football among themselves and sometimes with a select side of the

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. The popularity of the game spread like wild fire within a short time along the coast culminating in the formation of the first football club, Excelsior, in 1903 by Mr. Briton, a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

n-born Briton, who was then the Head Teacher of Philip Quaicoe Government Boys School in

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Gu ...

Ghana national men's football team

The '' Black Stars'' team is one of the highly rated national football teams in Africa. Ghana has won the

African Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internat ...

championships on four occasions. They also reached the last sixteen of the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

before being eliminated by the

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. At the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

in South Africa, they became the third African team in history to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. Some illustrious players have been

Charles Kumi Gyamfi Charles Kumi Gyamfi (4 December 1929 – 2 September 2015) was a Ghanaian footballer and coach, who as a player became the first African to play in Germany when he joined Fortuna Düsseldorf in 1960, and later became the first coach to lead the ...

, Abédi Pelé,

Abdul Razak ʻAbd al-Razzāq ( ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الرزاق) is a male Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Razzāq'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise ...

Tony Yeboah Anthony Yeboah (born 6 June 1966) is a Ghanaian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He is considered one of the most prominent and prolific goal scorers in Ghanaia ...

Samuel Kuffour Samuel Osei "Sammy" Kuffour (born 3 September 1976) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Known for his physical power, Kuffour is best remembered for his time with Bayern Munich, whom he represented for o ...

and

Michael Essien Michael Kojo Essien (born 3 December 1982) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and is currently a member of Danish Superliga club Nordsjælland's coaching staff. He was also capped for the Ghana national tea ...

. The youth teams have been successful as well. The U-17 team regularly competes in the

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédératio ...

and has won it twice and were runners-up twice. The U-20 team were runners-up twice in the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when ...

, and in 2009 the ''Black Satellites'' completed the

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

by winning the

2009 African Youth Championship The 2009 African Youth Championship is a football tournament for under 20 players. It was held in Rwanda from 18 January until 1 February 2009. It also served as qualification for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Qualification Preliminary round ...

and being crowned 2009 U-20 World Cup Champions thus becoming the first African Country to win the U-20 World Cup Championship. In

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

, Olympic U-23 team became the first African country to win a

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

at Olympic Games football and in 2011 the ''Black Meteors'' were crowned

2011 All-Africa Games The 10th All-Africa Games took place between September 3–18, 2011 in Maputo, Mozambique. Maputo's hosting marked the third time the Games was held in the southern part of the continent. Host awarding In April 2005, Lusaka, Zambia was named th ...

champions for the first time. Former ''Black Stars'' senior squad members such as

Sulley Muntari Suleyman Ali "Sulley" Muntari (born 27 August 1984) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in Italy, playing for clubs such as Udinese, Internazionale, and Milan. During his time w ...

John Mensah John Mensah (born 29 November 1982) is a former Ghanaian professional footballer who last played as a defender for AFC United in the Swedish second-tier . Born in Obuasi, Ashanti, Mensah is a product of the scouting system in Ghana that id ...

and captain Stephen Appiah all got their start at these youth tournaments. In 2014, Ghana was one of the eight nations to take part in the first Unity World Cup.

Top goalscorers

:As of ''26 June 2014'', the players with the most goals for the senior Ghanaian national team are: {, class="wikitable sortable collapsible collapsed" border="1" style="float:center; border:1px; font-size:90%; margin-left:1em;" ! # !class="unsortable", Player !class="unsortable", FM !class="unsortable",

WCQ The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

!class="unsortable", CANQ !class="unsortable", CAN !class="unsortable", WC !class="unsortable", Overall !class="unsortable", Caps !class="unsortable", Image of player , - !1 , align="center", Asamoah
Gyan , align="center", 18 , align="center", 10 , align="center", 2 , align="center", 6 , align="center", 6 , align="center", 42 , align="center", 59 , align="center", Asamoahgyan

Asamoah Gyan is the leading goalscorer for Ghana and is currently plying trade at Al Ain. , - ! rowspan="2", 2 , align="center", Edward
Acquah , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", 40 , align="center", , - , align="center", Kwasi
Owusu , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", 40 , align="center", , - !3 , align="center", Abédi
Pélé , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", 33 , align="center", 67 , align="center", Abédi Pélé (cropped)

Abédi Pélé is the 4th highest goalscorer for Ghana. , - !4 , align="center", Tony
Yeboah , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", , align="center", 29 , align="center", 59 , - , colspan="12", :Last updated: Ghana -

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

(

2014 World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

), 26 June 2014.

Ghana national women's football team

The ''

'' have taken part in all the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

championships since 1999. The team has however failed to go beyond the first round on each occasion. Ghana has also been runner up to

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

on three occasions in the African Women's Championships. Two Ghanaians, Alberta Sackey and Adjoa Bayor have been voted African Women Player of the Year.

Ghana Premier League

{, align="right" , ,

Ghanaian FA Cup

Ghana Super Cup

Ghana Women's Football League

Accra Sports Stadium disaster

Football Academies

Since the late 1990s, European clubs and entrepreneurs have started establishing football academies in Ghana. Among the first ones were

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

, and Right to Dream. Unlike other youth teams in Ghana (also known as colts), academies offer an educational setting alongside football training. In the 2010s, locally-based academies have started to spring up across the country. King James Asuming established ''Kumasi Sports Academy'' in Kumasi, which, unlike most academies in Ghana, offers a program for boys and girls. ''Kumasi Sports Academy'' kickstarted the career of multiple female footballers, including Blessing Shine Agbomadzi, defender for the

. Ernest Kufuor established ''Unistar Soccer Academy'' in the town of Kasoa-Ofaakor. Dozens of footballers started playing at ''Unistar'', including

Lumor Agbenyenu Lumor Agbenyenu (born 15 August 1996), commonly known as Lumor, is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for 2. Liga club SV Ried. Club career Early career As a youngster growing up in native Ghana, Lumor Agbenyenu play ...

, defender for the Black Stars. ''Unistar'' is also known for its urban impact. Many of the town's residents attested that ''Unistar'' had attracted new visitors, businesses and residents, improving the town’s infrastructures and general wellbeing. ''Mandela Soccer Academy'' was established in Accra by Mohammed Issa with a main goal of leveraging football’s universal appeal to advance broader visions of youth and community empowerment. Patmos Arhin, who currently plays for Turkish club Boluspor, played at ''Mandela Soccer Academy'' for several years.

Notable players

African Player of the Year and notable players

In the 1990s, Abédi Pelé and

received

FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representativ ...

top ten nominations: the following decade

Sammy Kuffour Samuel Osei "Sammy" Kuffour (born 3 September 1976) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Known for his physical power, Kuffour is best remembered for his time with Bayern Munich, whom he represented for ov ...

and

received

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine '' France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (fo ...

nominations. Abédi Pelé was listed in the 2004 "

FIFA 100 The FIFA 100 is a list of Brazilian footballer Pelé's choice of the "greatest living footballers". Unveiled on 4 March 2004 at a gala ceremony in London, England, the FIFA 100 marked part of the celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the fo ...

" greatest living footballers. On 13 January 2007, the

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football, or CAF for short (french: link=yes, Confédération Africaine de Football, ar, link=yes, الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Afrīqī li-Kurat al-Qadam), is the administ ...

voted Abédi Pelé,

, Karim Abdul Razak and

as members of the CAF top 30 best African players of all-time. In addition, Abédi and

Yeboah Yeboah or Yebuah () is a Akan surname meaning "our helper". Notable people with the surname include: *Daniel Nana Yeboah (born 1984), Ghanaian footballer * Daniel Yeboah (born 1984), Ivorian footballer *Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah (born 1977), Ghanaian ...

were voted as among of th
best African players of the century
in 1999 by

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for s ...

. ;Men * Abédi Pelé –

WPOY Nom.1991, 9th 1992
1991, 1992, 1993 APOY Winner
APOY Nom. 855th Best African Player of All-Time
* Karim Abdul Razak – 1978 APOY Winner
6th 198326th Best African Player of All-Time
* Ibrahim Sunday – 1971 APOY Winner *

�
Ballon d'Or Nom. 200127th Best African Player of All-Time
*

�
WPOY 9th 199324th Best African Player of All-Time
*

–

– 22nd 2005, 22nd 2006, 15th 2007;

�
24th 2007
APOY �
2nd 20073rd 200611th Best African Player of All-Time