Football in Ghana, on a scale, saw success weighing the most, according to Sheikh Tophic Abdul-Kadir Sienu, hence the year 2025 being good.
The whole country was turned upside after the four-time champions of Africa, the Black Stars of Ghana momentously failed to qualify for the 2025 African Cup of Nations.
This called for a much-needed paradigm shift, not only for the Black Stars but the Ghanaian football ecosystem as a whole, as puzzle pieces were moved from here to there.
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On Max FM’s Sports Pack show on Tuesday, January 27, the Senior Communication Manager at the Ghana Football Association, GFA, Sheikh Tophic, highlighted a number of reasons why the year 2025 was good for Ghana.
Women’s Football: The GFA saw their years-long investment into the female sector in football massively pay off when the Black Queens won bronze at the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup after years in the wilderness.
The Queens, for the second year running qualified for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup after a 7-0 whitewashing of the Cleopatras of Egypt in October 2025.
The Black Princesses moved from the preliminary stages of the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup under the leadership of Charles Sampson and are set to take on South Africa in February for a place at the global event.
More successes were chalked in the WAFU Zone B junior championship. The Black Damsels won gold at the 2025 CAF U15 Schools Football Championship, which was broadcast by Max TV.
Men’s Football: Ghana’s twinkling Black Stars and Otto Addo redeemed their image with a consecutive qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after being humbled in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers.
Dr Prosper Narteh Ogum, together with his Black Starlets, reached the 2026 U17 AFCON courtesy of a second-place finish at WAFU Zone B in Ivory Coast since 2018.
The U15 boys’ team managed to deliver bronze at the 2025 CAF U15 Schools Football Championship.
The Black Satellites, Ghana’s U20 men’s team, reached the AFCON for the first time since 2026.
