We must be ready for AFCON qualifiers - Gideon Mensah urges Black Stars after disappointing World Cup exit

Ghana defender Gideon Mensah has urged the Black Stars to use their disappointing exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup as motivation ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The four-time African champions saw their campaign come to an end after a 1-0 defeat to Colombia in the Round of 32, with Jhon Arias scoring the only goal of the game in the 14th minute to send the South Americans through.

Despite the painful elimination, Mensah insisted the players are already focused on making amends in the matches ahead.

“The plan is to take every game that comes at us as a chance for us to redeem ourselves,” he said.

“After this defeat, like I said, we have so many people that we have to make up to. First of all, ourselves, our family, our nation, our African brothers as well.”

The left-back revealed that the squad's attention has now shifted to the upcoming qualifiers, where they hope to restore confidence among supporters with improved performances and positive results.

“We go back to our homes, get ready for the qualifiers and make sure that we win every game that we can win. Even if we are not winning, we have to put on a show to show them that we are ready for whatever is supposed to come our way,” he added.

Mensah also expressed his appreciation to Ghanaians for their unwavering support throughout the tournament, acknowledging the sacrifices many supporters made to follow the team's matches despite the significant time difference.

“We are very grateful to Ghanaians. We are very happy that they have been with us throughout the journey. We know the time difference is very, very bad. People are sacrificing their sleep, not because they don’t want to sleep, but because they love the team. We don’t take that for granted. We are hoping that the goal was to make them happy and get them to have good sleep.”

“It didn’t go that way, but we are very happy that they have been with us throughout this journey.”

Ghana's appearance in the knockout stages marked the country's first progression beyond the group phase at a World Cup since 2010, although the campaign ultimately ended in disappointment against Colombia.

The defeat also signals the end of Carlos Queiroz's brief spell as Black Stars head coach, with the Portuguese trainer stepping down after the tournament. Queiroz had been appointed on a short-term contract ahead of the World Cup following the dismissal of Otto Addo earlier this year.