Ghana vs Sudan Afcon 2025 qualifier preview

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West Ham star Mohammed Kudus will captain the Black Stars of Ghana against Sudan for the crucial 2025 Afcon qualifier later on Thursday.

The Black Stars are under huge pressure after picking up just one point from two games against Angola and Niger in Group F.

Ghana bin Dey third, after Angola and Sudan Dey first and second; with Niger am dey at the bottom of the table.

There is a lot at stake for this game.

One of them, for the sake of the Black Stars, faces Sudan while he is the coach of the Falcons, a former Black Stars player and coach. My name is James Kwasi Appiah.

Appiah coached the Black Stars in 2012 and qualified for the 2014 World Cup.

In 2014, the Ghana Football Association awarded me a two-year contract which allowed me to leave the team by mutual consent later in September that year.

Appiah was sacked by the Black Stars as manager of Sudanese club Al Khartoum in December 2014.

But for April 2017 the GFA re-appointed me as coach of the Black Stars after sacking Avram Grant.

Well, I'm overseeing the Black Stars to qualify for the next Afcon in 2019.

But for the tournament in Egypt, Ghana did not make it to the round of 16; We at GFA have said that they will not extend my contract.

In September 2023, the Sudanese Football Association appoints Kwasi Appiah as the team's head coach.

So James Kwasi Appiah na pesin wey sabi di Ghana national team well well.

Ghana coach Otto Addon said in September that I was not fit and wished Kwasi Appiah all the best for this game.

“We all saw Kwasi Appiah, a great coach and a good coach, I really like that,” Otto Addo told a CAF seminar.

I add, “Normally I wish I was fine, but for this time I can't do that to play against us.”

Before the game, CAF will not write to the Sudanese coach and will give them until October 8th to resign from either of the two roles I have been given – as Sudanese coach and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Ghana Football Association.

In a letter to the 64-year-old, CAF said there was no conflict of interest, so they asked him if he should resign from either post or I will be brought before the disciplinary committee.

Na so coach Kwasi Appiah has now stepped down from his role as a member of the Executive Committee of the Ghana Football Association.

It is a huge blow for the players that Arsenal star Thomas Partey has left the squad due to injury.

LA Galaxy striker Joseph Painstil is also forced to withdraw due to injury, but Leicester's Jordan Ayew and Fataw Issahaku are both available, along with Monaco defender Mohammed Salisu.

Mohammed Kudus will captain the team in place of Thomas Partey in his absence.

Athletic Bilbao striker Inaki Williams and Bournemouth striker Antoine Semenyo are also available for selection.

Fernabache defender Alexander Djiku has missed the last few games due to injury and is also available for the Sudan game.

As for the Falcons, Mustafa Karshoum did not train well for the team in the last training session for the Accra Sports Stadium despite being fit.

Sudanese striker John Mano attended the pre-match conference and stated that the Falcons are ready to cause an upset against the Ghana Black Stars.

“We will win this game to beat Ghana and we want to get the victory after losing our last qualifier against Angola. We didn’t deserve a point for this game, but no football.”

Anoda Falcon striker Mohammed Issa is also a key player for Sudan as I join the team for Accra on Tuesday.

In Group F, Angola is at the top with 6 points; Sudan gets 3 points, Ghana and Niger are third and fourth with just one point from two games.

In the last 5 games between Ghana and Sudan, the Blackstars failed to win 4 while the Falcons won 1.

But overall, the two teams haven't faced each other nine times since 2009.

In these 9 games, Ghana won 7, Sudan won 1 and one game ended in a draw.

Ghana: Lawrence Ati-Zigi, Tariq Lamptey, Abdul Moomin, Alexander Djiku, Mohammed Salisu, Alidu Seidu, Elisha Owusu, Majeed Ashimeru, Kudus Mohammed, Antoine Semenyo, Inaki Williams

Sudan: Mohamed Mustafa, Ramadan Agab, Bakhit Khamis, Mustafa Karshoum, Abdelrahman Gaafar, Salaheldin Adil, Abdelrazig Omer, Walieldin Khidir, Abo Eisa, Saif Thierry, Mohamed Abdelrahman