Ghana Football Association President Kurt Okraku targets AFCON glory

By Lawrence Degraft Baidoo

President of the Ghana Football Association, Kurt Okraku, has set his sights firmly on delivering Africa’s biggest football prize to Ghana, declaring his ambition to see the Ghana national football team lift the Africa Cup of Nations trophy again.

Okraku made his intentions clear in an interview with Asaase Radio, stressing that winning AFCON remains his ultimate goal despite recent disappointments.

“I want to win the Africa Cup of Nations, and that is the fact,” Okraku said. “Only God knows the number of times we have tried and have not been able to win the AFCON title.”

The Black Stars’ recent record in the continental showpiece has fallen short of expectations.

Ghana exited at the group stage in both the 2021 and 2023 editions and failed to qualify for the 2025 tournament staged in Morocco after a difficult qualifying campaign.

However, the GFA boss remains optimistic, pointing to positive strides made by other national teams under his administration.

While the senior men’s team continues its quest for continental redemption, Ghana’s youth and women’s sides have offered bright sparks.

The national U-20 team clinched the AFCON title, while the Ghana women's national football team secured a bronze medal at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations and are set to compete again next month.

Okraku also highlighted the resurgence of the Ghana national under-17 football team, who have returned to the AFCON after several years away, and the progress of the Ghana women's national under-20 football team, who recently advanced to the final round of qualifiers for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

“Basically, I want to win every tournament for Ghana and place Ghana on the medal podium on any given occasion,” he added.

Ghana’s last AFCON triumph came in 1982.

Since then, the Black Stars have reached three finals in 1992, 2010, and 2015 but fell short each time. For Okraku, ending that decades-long wait for continental supremacy remains both a personal mission and a national aspiration.

As Ghana continues to rebuild and retool across all levels, the GFA president’s bold declaration signals a renewed drive to restore the Black Stars to the summit of African football.

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