England's World Cup opponents sack manager just 72 days before first tournament game
England's World Cup opponents Ghana have made a drastic managerial decision just 72 days before their first fixture at the tournament.
Ghana have been drawn into Group L alongside the Three Lions, Croatia and Panama and their first game comes against the latter at the BMO Field in Toronto, Canada on 18 June.
But the Black Stars are searching for a new manager after relieving Otto Addo of his duties on Monday night.
Addo's dismissal came following a 2-1 friendly defeat to Germany in Stuttgart. Denis Undav scored the winner in the 88th minute to hand Ghana a fourth straight friendly loss.
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The African nation, who have Premier League stars Antoine Semenyo and Mohammed Kudus in their ranks, were also thumped 5-1 by Austria on Friday.
The decision to axe Addo, a former player who was born in Germany, was announced in a statement on the Ghana Football Association's website. No explanation for the move was provided.
The statement read: "The Ghana Football Association (GFA) has parted ways with the Head Coach of the senior men’s national team (Black Stars), Otto Addo effective immediately.
"The Association wishes to thank Otto Addo sincerely for his contribution to the team and wishes him the best of luck in his future endeavours.
"The Ghana Football Association will communicate the new technical direction of the Black Stars in due course."
Oddo had been in his second spell with Ghana, whom he left following the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He returned in March 2024 and led the team to a second consecutive World Cup.
Ghana topped Group with 25 points and did not lose a single game in qualifying. However, they are now managerless after a four-game losing streak, which included defeats to Japan and South Korea in November.
Addo's sacking was communicated less than four hours after the loss to Germany and came after he had participated in a post-match press conference where he spoke to the media.
Maintaining positivity, Addo said: “We have improved a lot if we compare this game to the game against Austria.
“We learned a lot and for us it’s always good to get these kinds of experiences.
“Even though we lost, we are taking everything with us. For us, it was very, very good to face this kind of quality.”
The former Borussia Dortmund player now finds himself out of work and Ghana will look to appoint a new boss ahead of the next batch of friendlies against Mexico and Wales in late May and early June.
Ghana's World Cup opener is on 18 June, before they take on England at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on 23 June. Their final group game is against Croatia at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia four days later.
Topics: England, FIFA World Cup, Football
Josh Lawless