Taking over a team which had gone six defeats was challenging - Roger de Sa reflects on Black Stars' 2026 World Cup campaign

Former Ghana assistant coach Roger de Sa has shed light on the difficulties faced by the Black Stars technical team after taking charge of a squad with limited preparation time ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The South African coach joined Carlos Queiroz’s technical team in April, just months before Ghana’s participation in the global showpiece.

Despite making an impressive start to their tenure, the Black Stars were eliminated in the Round of 32 following a narrow 1-0 defeat to Colombia.

Speaking on 947’s MSW, De Sa admitted that the biggest challenge was rebuilding the confidence of a team that had endured a difficult run of results before their arrival.

"I think when you are coaching, you're always going to get different challenges along the way, and firstly for us was taking over a team which had gone six defeats in a row. I think that was the biggest challenge straight away," De Sa said.

The former goalkeeper added that restoring a winning mentality was a priority, while also highlighting the difficulty of managing a squad made up almost entirely of players based outside Ghana.

"We were like 'we have to turn it around', objective number one would be to get a bit of a winning mentality, not a losing mentality and to choose a team that is 99 per cent based all over Europe, that's a massive challenge," he added.

Ghana’s early exit from the World Cup brought an end to Queiroz’s brief spell as head coach, with the Portuguese trainer and his backroom staff confirming their departure from the Black Stars setup.

The Ghana Football Association is now expected to begin the process of finding a new technical direction as the team prepares for future international assignments.