Ghana fans worry over fitness

Ghana’s World Cup picture looks calm on paper and shaky in the treatment room. The Black Stars finished African qualifying on top of Group I with 15 points from six matches, but supporters are now fixated on whether Mohammed Kudus, Mohammed Salisu, and Tariq Lamptey can actually get on the field. (cafonline.com) That anxiety has a real deadline behind it. FIFA’s African qualifying schedule listed Ghana’s final two group games for October 2025, and club updates since then have turned attention from tactics to recovery timetables ahead of the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. (fifa.com, ghanafa.org) Kudus is the name that changes Ghana’s attack most because he is the player who carries the ball through pressure and turns broken moves into shots. On April 10, 2026, the Associated Press reported that Tottenham said the 25-year-old forward’s quad injury setback could require surgery, putting his return before the World Cup in doubt. (wtop.com) Salisu’s issue is less about doubt and more about the calendar. Monaco said on January 5, 2026 that the central defender had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, which is the major stabilizing ligament that usually brings a long rehabilitation. (asmonaco.com) Lamptey worries fans for a different reason: his game is built on acceleration, recovery runs, and one-on-one defending down the flank. Reports around his left-knee anterior cruciate ligament injury said he would miss Ghana’s decisive qualifying stretch, which is why every new national-team discussion now treats his availability as uncertain until there is a clear return date. (ghanasoccernet.com, brightonandhovealbion.com) The reason those three names keep coming up together is that they sit in three different load-bearing spots. Kudus is a chance creator, Salisu is a first-choice central defender, and Lamptey is the kind of full-back who lets Ghana defend high without feeling exposed in open space. (asmonaco.com, ligue1.com) Ghana have already shown how much stronger they look when Salisu is available. Ligue 1’s October 2025 international roundup noted that he scored in Ghana’s 5-0 win over Central African Republic, the result that kept the Black Stars on top of the group. (ligue1.com, cafonline.com) So the fan panic is not really about one injury bulletin. It is about the possibility that Ghana could arrive at the 2026 World Cup with their best ball-carrier recovering from surgery, their top central defender coming off an anterior cruciate ligament tear, and their quickest full-back still fighting his way back from a knee injury. (wtop.com, asmonaco.com, ghanasoccernet.com) That is why every club medical note now lands like national-team news in Ghana. The Black Stars have already done the hard part by reaching the tournament, and the next test is whether three key players can get healthy in time for it. (asmonaco.com, wtop.com)