The Africa Cup of Nations is one of the most prestigious football events on the planet, featuring top talents from across Africa, and this winter, it returns. On January 13th, the Ivory Coast will open its doors for a festival of football, and over the next month, the continent will crown its champion. Four-time champions Ghana have an esteemed history in the tournament, and they will feature once more in the opening weeks of 2024.
The Black Stars have been drawn into Group B alongside Cape Verde and Mozambique. However, the most difficult test in the group stage will be seven-time champions Egypt. Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah has led the Pharaohs to the AFCON final in two of the last three tournaments - namely 2017 and 2021 - however, on both times they came out on the losing side. Last time around it was Senegal and the cruelness of a penalty shootout. Four years prior, it was Cameroon and another heartbreaking moment, this time being Vincent Aboubakar's 88th-minute winner.
Salah's goalscoring exploits so far this season have prompted a popular soccer sportsbook to install him as a 6.00 second-favourite in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot. He will be expected to lead Egypt deep into the tournament once more and Ghana must prove that they are up to the test if they are to progress to the knockout round themselves. But the Black Stars have shone numerous times in the tournament since the turn of the millennium.
Third Place in 2008
Ghana hosted the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations and made sure to take full advantage of their home-field advantage. A new era in Ghanaian football had begun, and the whole country was buzzing with excitement. Ghana had a star-studded squad, with Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari, and Asamoah Gyan playing key roles in leading the country to its first-ever FIFA World Cup just two years prior.
They had the perfect opportunity to consolidate their status as the best team on the continent and immediately made a statement by topping their group, beating Guinea, Morocco, and Namibia, conceding just one goal in the process. The Black Stars then defeated Nigeria in the quarterfinals with a goal from English football league legend Junior Agogo, who found the net with barely ten minutes remaining. Unfortunately, though, they were unable to find a way past Cameroon in the semifinals, with midfielder Alain N'Kong scoring the only goal of the game deep into the second half.
They dusted themselves down and managed to narrowly secure third place though. Despite trailing 2-1 at half time, second-half strikes from former Arsenal youngster Quincy Owusu-Abeyie as well as Agogo once more and Haminu Draman were enough to secure a 4-2 victory and the bronze medal.
Runner-Up in 2010
The Black Stars came into the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations with a mission to win it all. And boy, did they come close. Coached by iconic Serbian boss Milovan Rajevac, They had stars such as Asamoah Gyan, Kevin-Prince Boateng, and Jonathan Mensah, but they could only limp their way through the group stages. Togo were eliminated from the tournament without a game being played and a 3-1 defeat to Ivory Coast left them on the brink of elimination.
Andre Ayew netted a 30th-minute winner against Burkina Faso and that was enough to secure the runners-up spot in group B. Once they had qualified for the knockouts though, they never looked back. They knocked off hosts Angola in the quarterfinals thanks to another first-half goal, this time from striker Asamoah Gyan. The former Sunderland striker was on hand once more to secure yet another 1-0 victory, this time against heavyweights Nigeria in the semifinals.
That set up a final against an Egypt side aiming to complete the first threepeat in AFCON history. And unfortunately for the Black Stars, they succeeded. Former Hull City loanee Gedo netted the only goal of the game five minutes from time to break Ghanaian hearts the world over.
Runner-Up in 2015
Five years later, Ghana came into the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations eager to redeem themselves from their 2010 heartbreak. They had a new coach, Avram Grant, and a renewed sense of optimism. With Andre Ayew and Player of the Tournament Christian Atsu leading the attack, the Black Stars started strong, topping the group of death ahead of Algeria, Senegal, and South Africa. But it was in the knockout stages that they truly shone.
Back-to-back 3-0 victories in the quarterfinals and semifinals against Guinea and hosts Equatorial Guinea set up a meeting with the Ivory Coast in the final. But just when they needed them the most, the goals suddenly began to dry up. That meant that the match went all the way to a dreaded penalty shootout, a shootout that would go the distance. The Ivorians would eventually triumph 9-8, with goalkeeper Boubacar Barry missing the all-important spot-kick.