The Black Stars begin their World Cup journey this afternoon as they face Selacao of Portugal in Group H
Ghana coach Otto Addo has named a strong starting XI to face Portugal in 2022 Fifa World Cup Group H opening game in Qatar on Thursday.
The Black Stars go into the tournament on the back of a 2-0 win over Switzerland in their last friendly game and would hope to at least replicate the same performance or pick a point against Cristiano Ronaldo’s side.
Captain Andre Ayew and his brother Jordan have been given the chance to start in midfield while goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi starts in post ahead of Manaf Nurudeen and Danlad Ibrahim.
Southampton defender Salisu Mohammed start in defence together with Alexander Djiku and Tariq Lamptey who is waiting to make his first competitive appearance will be on the bench.
Jordan has unsurprisingly been left on the bench despite his good performance against Switzerland last week. The Crystal Palace forward has been a target of criticisms by Ghanaians as they believe he plays lackadaisical type of football when it matters most.
In effect, Inaki Williams and captain Andre Ayew will lead the attack.
Ghana XI vs Portugal:
Lawrence Ati-Zigi, Daniel Amartey, Alidu Seidu, Alex Djiku, Mohammed Salisu, Baba Rahman, Salis Abdul Samed, Thomas Partey, Mohammed Kudus, Inaki Williams, Andre Ayew(C)
Portugal XI vs Ghana:
Costa, Cancelo, Dias, Pereira, Guerreiro, Neves, Otavio, Bruno Fernandes, Felix, Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Black Stars will play South Korea and Uruguay on November 28 and December 2 respectively to complete the group stage and hope for qualification to the Round of 16.
