2026 World Cup Qualifiers: Dede Ayew Dropped, Partey to lead.

Black Stars head coach Otto Addo has named his 26-man squad for the clash against Mali and Central African Republic. These players are put together to qualify the nation to play the 2026 World Cup. It is quite strange to many Ghanaians as to why Andre Ayew has bee abandoned for the qualifiers.

In an interview, Coach Otto Addo says the decision to drop Andre Ayew form the squad was a very difficult one to make.

Ayew who is the most capped active player (120)  scored five goals in 19 league appearances for French Ligue 1 side, Le Havre in the 2023/24 season.

Andre Ayew has been clubless for some time, and this was met with serious concerns from many Ghanaians until his current contract with Le Havre.

It was reported earlier this month that Otto Addo has had conversations with some key players in the team and that he wants to move on and build the team around young players.

Addressing journalists at a press conference on Wednesday, Otto Addo said he held a long conversation with the 34 years old skipper on why he has been dropped.

”I had a long talk with Andre. Personally, I visited him and gave him the reasons why he is not in the squad at the moment. For me, I can say I don’t like to give information out about what we spoke about,” Addo said.

“At the moment, Andre is a living legend of Ghana. It’s unbelievable what he did for the country and it’s the most difficult decision because I like him as a person and also as a player,” he said.

“And this is a decision we took, not like he necessarily agreed but I gave him the explanation so I don’t want to take it to another extent and say something for people to write about. I still have big respect for him.” he added.

Here is the full list as revealed by Otto Addo:

Goalkeepers: Lawrence Ati Zigi, Jojo Wollacott, Frederick Asare.

Defenders: Gideon Mensah, Ebenezer Annan, Mohammed Salisu, Jerome Opoku, Abdul Mumin, Alexander Djiku and Alidu Seidu, Tariq Lamptey

Midfielders: Mohammed Kudus, Abdul Salis Samed, Ibrahim Sulemana, Thomas Partey, Edmund Addo, Elisha Owusu and Abu Francis.

Forwards: Ernest Nuamah, Osman Bukari, Abdul Fatawu Issahaku, Antoine Semenyo, Jordan Ayew, Ibrahim Osman Kamaldeen Sumenana and Brandon Thomas-Asante.

Under Coach Otto Addo we hope and pray that the senior national team will bounce back to its known level.

Ghana will face Mali on June 6 before facing the Central African Republic on June 10.