German-born Black Stars coach Otto Addo has broken down his tactical approach to Ghana’s victory against Mali in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier on Monday evening in Accra.
The Black Stars of Ghana kept Ghanaian dreams of going to the World Cup alive after they recorded a crucial 1-0 win over Mali in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The Accra Sports Stadium on September 8 hosted the Black Stars.
Jordan Ayew assisted Alexander Djiku, who tapped the ball into the net at the far post from a corner kick.
The Blackstars’ defence of Djiku, Salisu, and Yirenkyi played key roles by keeping Mali’s attacks at bay.
The 1-0 win puts the Black Stars in pole position to qualify for the 2026 World Cup with two games to go.
Speaking in a post-match press conference after the match, Coach Otto Addo was quizzed about his approach to the game, revealing that his approach was built on a defensive style, knowing Mali needed a win in Ghana.
Otto Addo stated, “This is football; sometimes you have to fix your tactics. I knew they (Mali) needed to win, so we played a little bit defensively, and we had good headers in our team because we have three tall defenders in our team and at the end, that is his opinion, and I understand”.
“Had my tactics, we had our tactics and we decided well, and what is most important is the three points,” he added.
Ghana lead the group after eight matches with 19 points, Madagascar are second with 16 points, Comoros are third with 15 points, while Mali lie fourth with 12 points.
The Black Stars will play their last two games in October 2025, against the Central African Republic (CAR) and Comoros.
Black Stars will have to gain a maximum of 4 points from their two remaining games to seal qualification for the global showpiece in the USA, Canada and Mexico in 2026.
Meanwhile, some irate Ghanaian football supporters have bemoaned the deplorable state of the Accra Sports Stadium.
The irate Blackstar fans lamented as they were met with dusty seats despite paying for tickets to attend the World Cup Qualifier Match between Ghana and Mali.
In the viral video, the seat at the Accra Sports Stadium looked in a deplorable state, some broken and very dusty.
One angry Ghanaian fan in the viral video stated, “Look, I have to place something on the seat to be able to sit on it, look at the way the seat is dusty, this morning they should have gotten some people to clean them, I am sitting in this dirt with this sister after paying money for a ticket. When you travel abroad, you will not see this.
We have to do something right”, the netizen added.
Another added, “ A nation that plays ball, look at the seats, Ghana’s stadium is not fine. Ghana has developed more than Mali, but look at this, they will go and talk badly about us”.
Some Ghanaians have shared their opinion on the video, saying, “Yaw Ampofo Ankrah should be ashamed of himself….You give them a microphone and they talk as if they can solve all the problems in the World.
I always say the ability to communicate does not mean Managerial competence. He will have to explain to us why the closed wing was opened”.
“I will say this a 100 times, the whole country needs to be sold. I went to a County/District Soccer Team stadium to watch them play a few weeks ago. Their entire stadium, including pitch, services, wash room, etc is way better than every national stadium in Ghana. Shame!!”, another stated.
One more netizen added, “This has been my problem all this whole…you see In Europe that their stadiums are open even on normal days where visitors go there especially to their museums to check out the history of the club and so there are workers all the time…can’t it happen here?”.
“When @YawAmpofoAnkrah was handed the job, it was all grand promises,I’ll do this, I’ll fix that.” But look at his very first major assignment. You people are nothing but liars, parading as patriots while chasing selfish ambitions. Empty suits, pretending to serve the nation”, a netizen wrote.
Ghana, in recent years, have struggled with maintaining its sporting facilities, with many facilities being left to rot in a deplorable state without any maintenance.
It will be recalled that CAF had earlier placed a ban on Ghana from playing any of its AFCON qualifiers games in the country after the Baba Yara Stadium’s license to host category C games was suspended due to its substandard playing surface.
This led to the GFA and NSA working on the Accra Sports Stadium pitch to meet CAF approval to host Ghana’s AFCON qualifier between Ghana and Sudan.