The Ghana Football Association has ruled out signing Walid Regragui, the former Morocco national team coach, or Hervé Renard, the Saudi national team coach, and has settled on a short list of three Portuguese coaches.
Ghana are looking for a new coach to lead them at the 2026 World Cup finals, set to kick off in about two months in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, after sacking former coach Otto Addo due to poor results.
Earlier, the American network ESPN reported that Regragui and Renard, along with Ghanaian Kwasi Appiah, were the leading candidates for the position.
Other reports also indicated that Joachim Löw, the coach who won the 2014 World Cup with Germany, and Aliou Cissé, who guided Senegal to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations title, were among the potential candidates.
But a source told Kooora today, Friday, that Ghana FA officials are currently choosing between three coaches: Carlos Queiroz, Fernando Santos, and Paulo Bento—each of whom has previously coached Portugal.
Queiroz led Portugal between 2008 and 2010, Bento succeeded him until 2014, and then Santos embarked on a long stint that lasted eight years.
None of the three coaches is currently under contract, after Queiroz terminated his deal with Oman at the end of last March, Bento was dismissed as UAE coach in March 2025, and Santos left Azerbaijan last September.
While the source confirmed that the Portuguese trio are at the top of the shortlist, he did not rule out the presence of other candidates.
Ghana officially contacts Queiroz
This comes after Queiroz told Kooora about a week ago that he “had not received any contact from Ghana since leaving Oman.”
For his part, Tadeu Martins, the agent of the 73-year-old Portuguese coach, told Kooora today, Friday: “There had been no contact from the Ghana Football Association in the past period, but today we did indeed receive the first official call regarding coaching the national team.”
He added: “We are currently waiting to find out whether this project is suitable at this stage, and it is possible that they may have other candidates as well.”
The Ghana FA refuses to comment
On the other hand, Kooora tried to obtain a comment from the Ghana Football Association regarding this news, but received no response.
The Ghana Football Association is expected to settle the new coach’s file in the next few days, so that he will have the opportunity to begin preparations for the World Cup.
The President of the Ghana Football Association, Kurt Okraku, stated in early April that the new coach “will be appointed within a week or, at most, two weeks.”
Ghana’s Minister of Sports, Kofi Adams, also confirmed in statements to the local Channel One that the name of the new coach will be announced next Monday.
The Ghana national team will compete in Group 12 at the World Cup alongside England, Croatia, and Panama.