FIFA High-Performance Specialist Faisal Chibsah has praised the impressive performances of several new players who featured for Ghana’s senior national team, the Black Stars, during the recently held 2025 Unity Cup.
According to Chibsah, the emergence of these talents will present head coach Otto Addo with a positive dilemma ahead of the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The 2025 Unity Cup served as a four-nation tournament that featured Ghana, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, and a fourth invited team. With many senior players absent due to club commitments or rest, Addo seized the opportunity to test emerging talent and assess the depth of his squad. The decision, Chibsah noted, turned out to be highly productive.
“It was exciting to see many new faces in the national team,” Chibsah said in an interview following the tournament. “I don’t think the usual international calendar and the FIFA window often give coaches enough room to experiment with players they haven’t seen in competitive action.”
The Unity Cup, therefore, came at the perfect time to allow Ghana’s technical team to rest regular starters and evaluate new options in real-game situations. Several young and relatively unknown players stepped up, delivering solid performances that delighted fans and officials alike.
“This was the time to test new players. This is the time you can give your main players a break and offer new opportunities to upcoming talent,” Chibsah explained. “Clearly, we’ve seen some players make strong cases for inclusion going forward. It’s now a selection headache for the technical team as they prepare for more competitive fixtures.”
He emphasized that such challenges are a welcome development for any national team setup. “But the positive for me was the opportunity given to new faces. That is what a smart coach does — he uses moments like this to try something new, and what we saw was indeed positive,” he added.
Coach Otto Addo now faces the enviable task of integrating the standout performers from the Unity Cup into his core squad as Ghana prepares to regroup for the next phase of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in September. With stiffer competition for spots expected, players who impressed during the Unity Cup have bolstered their chances of earning future call-ups.
As Ghana continues to rebuild and strengthen under Otto Addo’s guidance, the emergence of new talent bodes well for the team’s long-term aspirations. The September qualifiers promise to be fiercely competitive, and the depth showcased during the Unity Cup may prove crucial in Ghana’s quest to secure a place at the next World Cup.
