A goodbye that did not last the summer
Carlos Queiroz wrote his farewell to Ghana in July. On Thursday the Ghana Football Association put him back in the job, and the wording of the announcement suggests both sides never quite saw the July message the same way.
The 73-year-old had arrived in April, replacing Otto Addo with the World Cup already close, and took the Black Stars into the round of 32 before Colombia knocked them out with a single goal. His social media post afterwards spoke of leaving a brief journey with pride. The federation now frames that moment as the natural end of a contract rather than a resignation.
“Queiroz’s previous mandate, which included leading Ghana at the just-concluded FIFA World Cup, concluded a few weeks ago,” the GFA said. “Following discussions with the GFA and the Ministry of Sports and Recreation, it was agreed that Carlos Queiroz would embark on a new coaching mandate, commencing with the upcoming international window.” The federation added that his international experience and his knowledge of the squad made him the obvious choice for the next cycle.
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Five World Cups, three flags
Few coaches in the game carry a passport quite like this one. Queiroz took Portugal to the 2010 World Cup, then led Iran at three consecutive editions in 2014, 2018 and 2022, and added Ghana this summer. That is five World Cups as a head coach with three different nations, a total almost nobody in the modern game can match.
The list of national teams behind him runs longer still: the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Colombia, Egypt, Qatar and Oman. At club level he coached Sporting CP, the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in MLS and Real Madrid. He also spent two spells as Alex Ferguson’s assistant at Manchester United, from 2002 to 2003 and again from 2004 to 2008.
Ivory Coast, and not much time
The new mandate starts almost immediately. Ghana face Ivory Coast on September 23 and Gambia on September 27 in Africa Cup of Nations 2027 qualifying, then meet Somalia twice in November, on the 11th and the 15th.
Ghana went to the World Cup under a coach appointed two months before it and left it in the second round. The qualifying campaign that starts this month is the first stretch of work Queiroz will get with time to shape rather than patch.
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