Ghana’s Black Stars have received a significant morale boost ahead of their 2026 FIFA World Cup opener after Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang visited the team’s hotel in Toronto.
The Vice President met players, coaching staff and officials on Tuesday, offering a passionate message centred on unity, teamwork and national pride as Ghana prepare to face Panama at BMO Field in their opening Group L fixture.
She urged the squad to embrace collective responsibility and place national interest above individual ambitions, stressing that success at the highest level depends on cooperation on and off the pitch.
“I will encourage you to do even more. I think that group work is part of the strength in sports; it’s about cooperation. Regardless of what your strength is, it becomes even stronger when it is played alongside somebody else, and if in the process you make someone else even stronger, you succeed even more,” she told the players.
Professor Opoku-Agyemang also highlighted the widespread support the team enjoys from Ghanaians across the world, reminding the players that the entire nation is behind them.
“Ghana is rooting for you. Regardless of where Ghanaians are, whether they are in the diaspora, in the markets, on the farms or in the fields, they are rooting for you. Ghana is behind you. Ghana has high expectations of you,” she said.
She further encouraged the players to be ready to sacrifice personal glory for the good of the team, insisting that collective success is what matters most.
“There are times when you may lose yourself in the interest of the group. That is very important. In the end, it’s about the group’s success. It’s about the success of Ghana.”
Concluding her address, she expressed strong belief in the squad’s ability to rise to the occasion on football’s biggest stage.
“We are counting on you. We know you will rise to the occasion and you will not let us down.”
The visit comes at a crucial moment as the Black Stars fine-tune preparations for their Group L opener against Panama, a match widely seen as key to Ghana’s hopes of reaching the World Cup knockout stages for the first time since 2010.
