Ghana made it to group H of the 2022 FIFA World Cup by beating Nigeria by away goals in a playoff game. This is Ghana’s fourth appearance in the World Cup, and they have high hopes of making it to the semifinals this time. The teams in Group H, which the African team will be playing against from November to December, are pretty competitive. Portugal and Uruguay are FIFA fans’ favourites, and many will root for them. On the other hand, it is among the only five teams from Africa, so that all African fans will be rooting for each of the five.
Group H Teams
Group H teams are Ghana, Uruguay, Portugal and South Korea and here is how they’ve been performing concerning FIFA:
Ghana
Ghana last appeared in the FIFA World Cup in 2014. It is ranked number 60 on FIFA and 11 on CAF (regional ranking). The Black Stars performed very well in the 2010 World Cup hosted in South Africa, reaching the last 16. Uruguay beat them on penalties, and they couldn’t qualify for the quarter or semifinals. With manager Otto Addo and star player Arsenal’s Thomas Partey in the picture, 10bet online sports betting in Ghana will not be the same again. Of course, a couple of other great players, such as Mohammed Salisu, Jordan Ayew and Inaki Williams, are players to look out for.
Uruguay
Uruguay has been in 14 sessions and won two World Cup titles. It is number three in the regional ranking and 13 in the FIFA World Cup. On top of that, it has won two FIFA cups, but that was a long time ago. The team is still very competitive though it didn’t make it to the semifinals last season. France took it out in the quarterfinals. Their top players include Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez and long-time players Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani. Will Ghana’s vengeance come hard enough to beat La Celeste? Stats and history suggest otherwise.
Portugal
Portugal is another tough cookie Ghana will struggle to crack. Though ranked number seven in UEFA, it has the highest ranking, nine, among the four countries of Group H. It hasn’t won any FIFA titles, but it’s one of the top-performing countries in the world. When you hear the names behind this team, Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Joao Cancelo, you know it will be a tough match. Fernando Santos, the coach since 2014, is here to ensure that the team makes it into the finals for the 8th time this season and maybe even win. Ghana will have to be very strategic to beat this team.
South Korea
South Korea is in a similar position as Ghana in this group. It’s about facing two of the most competitive teams when they need to prove themselves. They haven’t been able to make it out of the group stage since 2010. They are ranked number three in the AFC, and their FIFA ranking is 28. Based on these ranks, Ghana shouldn’t sleep on South Korea as it is one of the top performers of its region and has been making it to FIFA since 1982. Paulo Bencho’s key players include Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan and Kim Min-Jae.
Will Ghana Make it to the Semifinals?
The Black Stars have high hopes they’ll make it out of the group round. But, if we are being realistic, the teams they’ll be facing in November are highly ranked in their regions and in FIFA. Uruguay has won the FIFA title two times before, Portugal has reached the finals seven times, and South Korea has been on FIFA six times more than Ghana. As we’ve said before, the African team will have to be very strategic in using their key players to earn enough points and be a part of the two teams to make it to the round of 16 countries. Then it can deal with reaching the quarter, semi and finals when they have survived this stage.
The one similar thing they have with the other three teams is that they also have players who have played outside their region. The coach must take advantage of that even during training to better understand their opponents. If they can nail how international players run the fields to the net. Then maybe they will make it to the top 16, at least.
Our Conclusion
Ghana is one of the few countries in its region to have a good FIFA record. It has made it out of the group round before, and we hope it will again. But this season, there is tough competition, and the two teams people see coming out of Group H are Portugal and Uruguay. But Ghana is also a big deal in its region and has won the Africa Cup of Nations four times, and this is the fourth time making it to FIFA. Also, FIFA seasons are never the same. Hopefully, we’ll see more significant changes on this one.
