One jersey, one nation: Ghana shows up for the Black Stars
By kickoff at BMO Field this evening, it will be hard to find a Ghanaian anywhere, in Accra, in Toronto, or scattered across the diaspora, who isn’t wearing red, gold, and green in some form. Whatever else divides us, World Cup day has a way of making the whole country wear the same jersey.
That unity started showing up days before a ball was even kicked. NDC National Chairman Asiedu Nketiah posted a photo of himself in a Black Stars jersey, telling followers that political rivalries disappear the moment the national team plays, “we all wear the same colours,” as he put it, and challenging fans to predict the score for a chance at a replica kit. On the other side of the aisle, NPP flagbearer Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia sent his own message of support to the squad. Ghana’s politicians don’t agree on much, but on Black Stars day, they’re standing in the same stands, at least in spirit. The country’s Chief Imam added his voice too, calling on Ghanaians to back the team with national prayers, a reminder that this kind of support runs through every institution in the country, not just the football ones.
Toronto itself has felt like an extension of home soil this week. Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang flew in personally to visit the team at their hotel, leading a delegation that included a representative of the Asantehene, Ghana’s High Commissioner to Canada, and GFA President Kurt Okraku, telling the players that Ghanaians “from every region, community, and household” were rallying behind them.
President Mahama, staying in Accra, sent his own message urging the players to “play for the flag” and called on Ghanaians across Toronto and North America to fill the stands. They answered. Hundreds of fans turned the streets around the team’s hotel into what onlookers described as a carnival, with Black Stars legend Asamoah Gyan out front leading traditional jama celebrations. Across town, the Ghana Fun Fest at Sankofa Square has had food and music going since 11 a.m., with supporters marching from Stanley Park to the stadium hours ahead of kickoff.
It isn’t just officials and organizers, either. Businessman Richard Nii Armah Quaye flew his own jet up from Ghana just to be there, posting a video of himself in full Black Stars kit promising, “we are coming like kakalika.” Antoine Semenyo’s fiancée crossed the Atlantic from the UK to cheer him on in person. Online, the hashtags have barely let up, #BlackStars and #WC2026 full of jersey selfies, predictions, and the kind of giveaway hype that only a World Cup opener can generate.
And then there’s Thomas Partey, sitting this one out in the US after Canada denied his visa. He hasn’t been cut loose by his teammates over it, in the middle of the legal back-and-forth, he was seen singing along with Black Sherif at the team hotel for his birthday, looking about as far from defeated as a player in his position could look. Plenty of Ghanaians have kept him in their thoughts too, much of the public conversation centered on hoping the situation gets resolved fairly in time for him to suit up against England and Croatia. He may not be on the pitch tonight, but he hasn’t been written out of the story Ghana is telling itself this World Cup.
Win, lose, or draw against Panama, the turnout already says something about what this team means back home. Few squads get a vice president, a king’s envoy, two rival party leaders, and a private jet showing up just to say good luck.
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