First Touch ’26 - Ghana

Ghana is one of the World Cup’s true cult favorites: bright colors in the stands, big moments on the pitch, and a history of punching above their weight when it matters most. In this World Cup Capsule, David Gass tells the story of the Black Stars—from the game’s arrival with European merchants and the early AFCON glory years, to their late but spectacular World Cup debut in 2006 as the youngest squad at the tournament, beating both Czechia and the United States before falling to Brazil. We relive the heartbreak of 2010 against Uruguay, when Asamoah Gyan—Ghana’s all-time leading scorer and the top African scorer in World Cup history—missed a last-minute penalty that would have made Ghana the first African semifinalist, and how that near-miss still shapes the country’s footballing psyche today.