A member of the Ghana Football Association (GFA) Communications Team, Sheikh Tophic Sienu, has underlined the importance for Ghana to be at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in connection to the nation’s failure to qualify to the 2025 AFCON.
He said this in an exclusive interview with Citi Sports on the sidelines of a watch party for the Nigeria v Ghana game in the 2025 Unity Cup.
The game, played at the G-Tech Community Stadium, had Ghana’s Black Stars lose 2-1 to Nigeria and Sienu highlighted the need for Ghana to compete in such games to build up a competent “back up group” to ensure that Ghana’s momentum in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers is maintained for qualification to be achieved.
“It (competing in the Unity Cup) is good for Ghana considering the fact that we won’t be playing at the African Cup of Nations. We have World Cup qualifiers to play in September but we have no other competition to engage in till that time. We need to prepare our team to get it ready for the World Cup qualifiers. Failing to qualify for the AFCON, the only compensation that the FA can give to Ghanaians, is to qualify for the World Cup.”
“Now we are leading the group, we are in a very good position to qualify to the World Cup…and games of this nature are really helpful” Tophic Sienu said.
Ghana will play Trinidad and Tobago for third place in the Unity Cup after losing to Nigeria. Scroll down to watch Tophic Sienu interview.
“It is good for Ghana considering the fact that we won’t be playing at the AFCON. We have World Cup qualifiers in September, but no other competitions to engage in”
Sheikh Tophic Sienu, GFA Communications Team Member on how playing in the Unity Cup can be beneficial#CitiSports pic.twitter.com/rKOGfvmxx0
— Citi Sports (@CitiSportsGHA) May 28, 2025
