Ghanaian winger Joseph Paintsil will miss the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Mali and the Central African Republic due to an injury.
The Black Stars are scheduled to face Mali at Stade du 26 Mars on June 6 and then play a home game against the Central African Republic at Baba Yara Stadium.
Paintsil, who recently transferred to Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy, sustained the injury in a match on May 16 and has been sidelined since. LA Galaxy coach Greg Vanney revealed that Paintsil was substituted after 52 minutes during a 2-2 draw with Minnesota and did not feature in the subsequent game against Charlotte FC.
Vanney mentioned the possibility of Paintsil returning for the June 2 game against Chicago Fire, but stated, “He’s very questionable for Chicago. We’ll monitor his recovery this week. He’s played around 45 games since his European season started in August, so this is a good time for him to recover and prepare for the second half of the season.”
Since joining LA Galaxy from Belgian side KRC Genk, Paintsil has scored four goals and provided four assists in 13 league games.
Ghana’s head coach Otto Addo is expected to announce the squad for the upcoming fixtures soon. The Black Stars are currently fourth in Group I with three points, having won against Madagascar but lost unexpectedly to Comoros. The team aims to revive their qualification hopes with these upcoming matches.
