President John Mahama has jokingly taken a swipe at Black Stars players over their silence when the national anthem was being played during Ghana’s 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign.
Mahama highlighted that he noticed that the Black Stars players stood in silence during the national anthem before matches.
He compared the Black Stars players to players from other nations who sang their anthems with pride.
Speaking to the media at the Jubilee House, John Mahama stated, “During the World Cup, our players did not sing the national anthem. All the other players sang their national anthem with pride. Ours were quiet”.
Mahama further playfully suggested that any player who could not sing the national anthem should not be representing Ghana.
“It should be a qualification for playing for the national team. If you cannot sing the anthem, you cannot be in the team,” Mahama added.
Some Ghanaians reacting to Mahama’s remarks stated, “Especially we and Colombia 🇨🇴, game I feel so sad that the Colombians are singing their anthem at the top of their voice, but our people only hear the sound of our national anthem.
“You said it, ‘sang with pride. There is a reason they sang with pride. Their country has done something memorable for them to sing its anthem with pride. How many Ghanaians can say the same thing about Ghana?”, a netizen added.
“Let’s do a test in parliament to see who can sing the anthem. Brofo bia wo b3 te no…you will run”, a netizen added.
One X user added, “Yes is true, and it is shameful our players can’t sing our national anthem. Forget about foreign players, local breed players with good management can win us any tournament we won. Let’s focus and invest in them”.
Meanwhile, Ghana’s 2026 FIFA World Cup dreams have ended in the Round of 32 following a 1-0 defeat to Colombia at Kansas City Stadium after Black Stars’ shambolic display.
The Black Stars fell short of a place in the Round of 16 after Jhon Arias scored the decisive goal in the 14th minute after he calmly converted a cross from Luis Suárez.
Colombia’s goal came just a minute after both teams were forced into early changes, as Colombia’s Jhon Córdoba and Ghana’s Marvin Senaya went off injured inside 13 minutes.
Marvin Senaya was forced off injured after just 13 minutes, with Alidu Seidu replacing him. Moments later, Arias capitalised on Ghana’s defensive lapse to calmly convert a cross from Luis Suárez.
Despite conceding early, the Black Stars failed to create any clear-cut chances as they failed to test the well-organised defence of Colombia.
Also, Lawrence Ati-Zigi in the first and second halves kept Ghana in the contest with a series of important saves.
Luis Díaz extended Colombia’s lead, but the goal was ruled out after a VAR check.
The Black Stars pushed for a leveller yielded no result, as Colombia managed the game effectively, enjoying long spells of possession and frustrating the Black Stars’ attacking efforts with zero big chances created and also failing to test Colombia goalkeeper Camilo Vargas the entire 90 minutes of the game.
Colombia 1 nil victory sends them into the Round of 16, where they will face Switzerland, ending Ghana’s 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign in the Round of 32.
Watch the video below:
🎥 🇬🇭 “During the World Cup, our players couldn’t sing the national anthem, while players from other countries sang with pride.
— Citi Sports (@CitiSportsGHA) July 8, 2026
“If you cannot sing the anthem, you cannot be in the team.”—President Mahama takes a joking swipe at Black Stars players.#CitiSports pic.twitter.com/qKpa4XV6pM
