Ghana coach carries special memory as he faces former team in KC World Cup match
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Ghana is the ninth national team Queiroz has coached.
- Queiroz and Colombia parted ways in December 2020 after successive qualifying losses.
- A win over Colombia would put Ghana in the World Cup quarterfinals for the first time.
There were hugs shared between Ghana coach Carlos Queiroz and reporters at the end of Thursday’s World Cup news conference outside Kansas City (Arrowhead) Stadium.
Lest one think there’s some homerism with the Ghana press, the hugs and selfies came from journalists covering Colombia, which plays Ghana here Friday in a Round of 32 match.
“Look, tomorrow I play 265 international games, only two coaches in the world that played more games than me,” Queiroz said. “I collected 142 wins. Nobody in football history win international matches more than me.
“If I’m not in a position to enjoy it, what am I doing here? What is important for me is to enjoy as much as possible this wonderful life in football ... this is what I have in my mind to wake up every day and try to be a better person, better coach, that’s what I’m enjoying every single day of my life.”
Ghana is the ninth national team the 73-year-old Queiroz has coached, following stints with Portugal, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Egypt, Qatar, Oman ... and Colombia.
That’s why Queiroz was happy to see the reporters who once covered him.
Colombia and Queiroz parted ways in December 2020 after successive losses in World Cup qualifying. He was on the job for a little less than two years.
“I truly enjoyed and loved my work with the Colombia team,” Queiroz said.
But he added that coaching the squad during the COVID pandemic proved to be challenging.
“Strange things were happening all the time during practice, during preparation,” he said. “I’ll just take this opportunity to remind everyone that myself and the technical core that were trying to prepare Colombia, we were trying to do our best. ...
“I would like to remind everyone that our goalkeeping coach died serving Colombia, he was locked in a room for 21 days by himself, no support. And today I have the obligation to remember. For tomorrow perhaps we can take a moment to remember him and remember his life. The Federation of Colombia has the opportunity to repair what happened with his life.”
While he hopes for a tribute to the unnamed coach, Queiroz is focused on the future, not the past. A win against Colombia would put Ghana in the World Cup’s Round of 16.
This is the fifth time Queiroz has led a team in the World Cup (Portugal in 2010 and Iran in 2014, 2018, 2022). But he’s never won a knockout stage match, despite that stellar resume he mentioned.
It’ll be a tall task Friday, as Ghana is ranked 65th in the world and Colombia is 11th. But Ghana forward Jordan Ayew said the beauty of soccer is anything can happen once the game begins.
“Every game we start is 50-50 and tomorrow is going to be another tight game,” Ayew said. “Listen, we’re going to, to do our best. We’re going to put on a show, and we’ll see what will happen. But what I can guarantee is that we will definitely make Africa proud and Ghana proud.”
This story was originally published July 2, 2026 at 3:45 PM.
