Kudus, Semenyo, Baba Rahman Pull Out of Black Stars AFCON Squad

Ghana’s preparations for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers have suffered another setback after Antoine Semenyo and Baba Rahman withdrew from the Black Stars squad, joining Mohammed Kudus and other injured players on the sidelines.

Semenyo asked to be excused from the September-October international window as he continues to recover from a niggling ankle injury.

The 26-year-old forward was prepared to undergo independent checks on the injury through the Ghana Football Association (GFA), with further clarification expected on his condition.

Semenyo has made an impressive start to the Premier League season, scoring two goals and providing three assists in five appearances for Manchester City.

His absence further reduces Ghana’s attacking options, with Kudus and Thomas Partey also unavailable for the upcoming qualifiers.

Baba Rahman has also been ruled out after suffering a knee injury expected to keep him out for about two weeks.

According to unconfirmed reports, the PAOK defender travelled to Ghana and underwent an assessment by the Black Stars medical team before being excused from the squad.

Kudus’ withdrawal has also been explained by Black Stars coach Carlos Queiroz, who said Ghana had to respect Tottenham’s decision regarding the player’s recovery.

“We national team coaches, we can’t control the decisions of the coaches,” Queiroz said.

He explained that Kudus initially appeared to be making progress, but concerns arose after the forward played 70 minutes.

“Unfortunately, the news was not progressing in the direction that we expected,” he added.

According to Queiroz, he later had a final conversation with Kudus, during which they agreed that protecting his recovery was the best option.

“In my final conversation with Kudus, we realized that the best decision was to protect his progress, his recovery process,” he said.

Ghana will begin their AFCON 2027 qualifying campaign away against Côte d’Ivoire in Bouaké on Thursday, September 24, before hosting The Gambia at the Accra Sports Stadium five days later.

The Black Stars have responded to the growing list of absentees with late call-ups, including Brandon Thomas-Asante, Felix Afena-Gyan and Jonas Adjetey. Rockson Yeboah and Rahim Ibrahim have also received their first senior national team call-ups.