Black Stars Players<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n
Seven Black Stars players held their first training session in Casablanca on Sunday as Ghana\u2019s national team begins preparations for Wednesday\u2019s crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against the Central African Republic (CAR).<\/p>\n
The early arrivals who trained include goalkeeper Benjamin Asare, defender Gideon Mensah, Christopher Bonsu Baah, midfielder Elisha Owusu, forwards Prince Owusu and Ebenezer Annan, plus Kwasi Sibo. More squad members are expected to arrive Sunday evening to boost the team\u2019s preparation for the October 8 encounter.<\/p>\n
Ghana will hold three training sessions in Morocco before the match on Wednesday, with Otto Addo\u2019s men taking on CAR at the Stade d\u2019Honneur de Meknes on October 8, 2025, before hosting Comoros in Accra on Sunday, October 12.<\/p>\n
The match will be played on neutral ground in Morocco because the Central African Republic does not have a FIFA-approved stadium for international matches. The fixture represents Ghana\u2019s penultimate Group I qualifier, with the Black Stars desperately needing points to keep their World Cup dreams alive.<\/p>\n
However, Ghana has suffered a major blow ahead of the crucial encounter. Inaki Williams will miss the October World Cup qualifiers due to a muscle injury in the tensor of the fascia lata of his left leg, confirmed by Spanish media outlet El Chiringuito TV.<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old Athletic Bilbao forward picked up the injury during his club\u2019s 2-1 victory against Real Mallorca on October 4, 2025, after scoring from the penalty spot to end a nine-game goalless streak. The timing couldn\u2019t be worse for Ghana, coming just days before the team\u2019s most important matches of the qualifying campaign.<\/p>\n
Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde revealed after the game that the extent of the injury is yet to be determined, making it difficult to confirm whether Williams will report for national duty. That uncertainty has now been resolved with confirmation that he won\u2019t be available.<\/p>\n
Williams\u2019 absence leaves a significant gap in Otto Addo\u2019s attacking options. Should the injury be confirmed as serious, Addo may turn to standby striker Brandon Thomas-Asante of Coventry City, who has been in blistering form this season with five goals and three assists in nine appearances.<\/p>\n
The stakes for these final qualifiers are exceptionally high. Ghana needs at least four points from their matches against CAR and Comoros to secure qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which would mark the country\u2019s fifth appearance at the global tournament.<\/p>\n
The Black Stars currently sit in a precarious position in Group I, making the CAR fixture virtually a must-win encounter. Any slip-up in Morocco would put enormous pressure on the home match against Comoros and potentially leave Ghana\u2019s World Cup hopes hanging by a thread.<\/p>\n
Training in Casablanca allows the team to acclimatize to Moroccan conditions before traveling to Meknes for the match. The neutral venue removes any potential home advantage for CAR but also means Ghana won\u2019t benefit from playing before their own supporters.<\/p>\n
Coach Otto Addo faces tactical challenges beyond Williams\u2019 absence. Integrating players arriving at different times while maintaining team cohesion presents logistical complications. The three scheduled training sessions must be sufficient to ensure the squad is match-ready for Wednesday\u2019s crucial encounter.<\/p>\n
For the seven players who began training Sunday, the early work provides an opportunity to set the tone and establish the intensity required for what promises to be a tense, high-stakes qualifier. Ghana\u2019s World Cup ambitions may well depend on how effectively they execute Addo\u2019s game plan against a CAR side that has proven capable of causing upsets.<\/p>\n
The match kicks off at 4:00 PM GMT on Wednesday, with Ghana\u2019s football-loving public watching anxiously to see whether the Black Stars can take a vital step toward the 2026 World Cup.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Black Stars Players Seven Black Stars players held their first training session in Casablanca on Sunday as Ghana\u2019s national team begins preparations for Wednesday\u2019s crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against the Central African Republic (CAR). The early arrivals who trained include goalkeeper Benjamin Asare, defender Gideon Mensah, Christopher Bonsu Baah, midfielder Elisha Owusu, forwards […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":413050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-413049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\n
Seven Black Stars Players Begin Training in Morocco Ahead of Crucial World Cup Qualifier - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seven Black Stars Players Begin Training in Morocco Ahead of Crucial World Cup Qualifier - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Black Stars Players Seven Black Stars players held their first training session in Casablanca on Sunday as Ghana\u2019s national team begins preparations for Wednesday\u2019s crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against the Central African Republic (CAR). The early arrivals who trained include goalkeeper Benjamin Asare, defender Gideon Mensah, Christopher Bonsu Baah, midfielder Elisha Owusu, forwards […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-05T23:16:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/black-stars-players-696x553.webp.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"553\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ghana News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/05\\\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/05\\\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19f97c9b96bb4eec1ec652714cfea7e6\"},\"headline\":\"Seven Black Stars Players Begin Training in Morocco Ahead of Crucial World Cup Qualifier\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-05T23:16:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/05\\\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":635,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/05\\\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/black-stars-players-696x553.webp.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/05\\\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/05\\\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\\\/\",\"name\":\"Seven Black Stars Players Begin Training in Morocco Ahead of Crucial World Cup Qualifier - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/05\\\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/05\\\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/black-stars-players-696x553.webp.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-05T23:16:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19f97c9b96bb4eec1ec652714cfea7e6\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/05\\\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/05\\\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/05\\\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/black-stars-players-696x553.webp.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/black-stars-players-696x553.webp.webp\",\"width\":696,\"height\":553},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/05\\\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Seven Black Stars Players Begin Training in Morocco Ahead of Crucial World Cup Qualifier\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19f97c9b96bb4eec1ec652714cfea7e6\",\"name\":\"Ghana News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ghana News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2025\\\/author\\\/ghanamma\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Seven Black Stars Players Begin Training in Morocco Ahead of Crucial World Cup Qualifier - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Seven Black Stars Players Begin Training in Morocco Ahead of Crucial World Cup Qualifier - Ghanamma.com","og_description":"Black Stars Players Seven Black Stars players held their first training session in Casablanca on Sunday as Ghana\u2019s national team begins preparations for Wednesday\u2019s crucial 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against the Central African Republic (CAR). The early arrivals who trained include goalkeeper Benjamin Asare, defender Gideon Mensah, Christopher Bonsu Baah, midfielder Elisha Owusu, forwards […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/","og_site_name":"Ghanamma.com","article_published_time":"2025-10-05T23:16:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":696,"height":553,"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/black-stars-players-696x553.webp.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Ghana News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ghana News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/"},"author":{"name":"Ghana News","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/#\/schema\/person\/19f97c9b96bb4eec1ec652714cfea7e6"},"headline":"Seven Black Stars Players Begin Training in Morocco Ahead of Crucial World Cup Qualifier","datePublished":"2025-10-05T23:16:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/"},"wordCount":635,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/black-stars-players-696x553.webp.webp","articleSection":["Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/","name":"Seven Black Stars Players Begin Training in Morocco Ahead of Crucial World Cup Qualifier - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/black-stars-players-696x553.webp.webp","datePublished":"2025-10-05T23:16:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/#\/schema\/person\/19f97c9b96bb4eec1ec652714cfea7e6"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/black-stars-players-696x553.webp.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/black-stars-players-696x553.webp.webp","width":696,"height":553},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/10\/05\/seven-black-stars-players-begin-training-in-morocco-ahead-of-crucial-world-cup-qualifier\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Seven Black Stars Players Begin Training in Morocco Ahead of Crucial World Cup Qualifier"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"Ghana mma provides breaking news, top stories in Ghana, Africa, business, entertainment, politics and more.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/#\/schema\/person\/19f97c9b96bb4eec1ec652714cfea7e6","name":"Ghana News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/22cb97c2b08df229330efb2b8c2645feaae8d3ca3ee434035fbb668b5b82f570?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ghana News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/author\/ghanamma\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Black](\"https:\/\/b843437.smushcdn.com\/843437\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/black-stars-players-696x553.webp?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1\" "\\"Black")