At least eight Ghana players have withdrawn from the 25-man squad for their final two matches in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against Angola and Niger Republic, citing various reasons, Afrosport reports.
According to the Ghana Football Association (GFA), the eight players include Inaki Williams, Antoine Semenyo, Tariq Lamptey, Joseph Painstil, Jonas Adjetey, Jerome Opoku, Alexander Djiku, and Ibrahim Osman.
The GFA confirmed that Athletic Bilbao forward, Williams, picked up a hamstring injury on November 7 and is yet to resume training, while England-based fullback Tariq Lamptey aggravated a calf injury he suffered last week and is currently undergoing rehabilitation with his club, Brighton and Hove Albion.
Bournemouth forward Semenyo is reportedly nursing a patella tendon injury due to an “overload of games”. Adjetey, on the other hand, who was on his way to full recovery, suffered a setback while playing for Swiss club Basel, while Opoku is undergoing rehabilitation for a serious back injury.
Fenerbahce defender Djiku and Feyenoord winger Osman are both nursing respective hamstring injuries, while Painstil withdrew from the squad due to personal reasons.
Meanwhile, the withdrawn players will be replaced by the sextet of Osman Bukari, Ransford-Yeboah Koningsdorffer, Forson Amankwah, Terry Yegbe, Ebenezer Annan, and Kingsley Schindler.
The Black Stars’ AFCON 2025 qualification hopes hang by a thread as they currently sit third in Group F with two points from four matches, five points adrift second-placed Sudan, and 10 behind leaders Angola.
Ghana will first battle Angola’s Palancas Negras on Friday, November 15, in Luanda, before wrapping up their AFCON qualifiers series with a home fixture against the Menas of Niger at the Accra Sports Stadium on Monday, November 18.
The four-time champions must win their two matches and hope Sudan loses both to book a spot in next year’s AFCON finals.
