Joseph Paintsil’s hopes of representing Ghana at another FIFA World Cup have suffered a major setback after the winger was left out of the Black Stars’ 28-man squad for their preparation camp in Cardiff and upcoming international friendly against Wales.
The omission has sparked widespread debate among Ghanaian football fans, many of whom believed the talented attacker had done enough at club level to secure his place in the team heading to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The 28-year-old winger has been one of the bright spots for LA Galaxy this season, delivering impressive performances in Major League Soccer. Paintsil has scored three goals and provided two assists in just 11 appearances, showing consistency, pace, creativity, and attacking quality. His form in the United States raised expectations that he would become an important part of Ghana’s squad for the tournament in North America.
However, when head coach Carlos Queiroz announced the provisional squad for the Black Stars’ World Cup preparations, Paintsil’s name was noticeably absent.
The decision immediately revived memories of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where he was also surprisingly excluded despite enjoying strong club performances at the time.
Back then, former Ghana coach Otto Addo insisted that Paintsil’s omission was not due to a lack of quality. Yet four years later, the winger once again finds himself facing the painful possibility of missing football’s biggest tournament.
Paintsil has remained a regular figure in Ghana’s national team setup in recent years and contributed during the Black Stars’ World Cup qualifying campaign.
That is why his exclusion from the current preparation camp has become one of the biggest talking points surrounding the national team ahead of the tournament.
