Roger De Sa rates Ghana’s World Cup performance as ‘satisfactory’ despite Round of 32 exit

Black Stars assistant coach Roger De Sa has described Ghana’s performance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup as satisfactory, despite the team’s elimination at the Round of 32 stage.

Ghana made their fifth appearance at football’s biggest tournament in North America, competing against some of the world’s best teams after securing qualification for the global showpiece.

The four-time African champions opened their campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Panama before producing a disciplined display to hold England to a goalless draw.

However, Ghana ended their group-stage campaign with a 2-1 defeat to Croatia, a result that saw them progress to the knockout phase as one of the best third-placed teams.

Their World Cup journey eventually came to an end after a narrow 1-0 loss to Colombia in the Round of 32.

Despite criticism over the team’s performances, De Sa, who joined the Black Stars technical team ahead of the tournament, believes Ghana showed enough quality given the circumstances surrounding their preparations.

The South African coach admitted that finishing the competition with consecutive defeats was disappointing but insisted the overall showing was positive.

"We lost 2-1 to Croatia and then 1-0 to Colombia, so ending the competition with two defeats was disappointing," the South African told Flashscore.

"However, considering the players we had available and the limited preparation time, I felt it was a satisfactory performance overall," De Sa added.

With the World Cup now behind them, Ghana will turn their attention to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, which begin in September.

The Black Stars have been drawn in Group C alongside Gambia, Ivory Coast and Somalia as they begin their quest to return to Africa’s premier football competition after missing out on the previous edition.