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The Ghana national football team, nicknamed the 'Black Stars', represents
the West African country of Ghana internationally, and is controlled by the
sport's governing body, the Ghana Football Association. Prior to it gaining its
independence from Great Britain in 1957, Ghana played international football as
the 'Gold Coast'.
The team has won the African Cup of Nations an impressive four times, ranking it
second behind Egypt. The Black Meteors (the Ghana Olympic Team) became the
first-ever African football side to win a prestigious Olympic football medal at
the 1992 Games.
In terms of the Ghana national football team's record when it comes to FIFA
World Cups, the country has only succeeded in qualifying for one tournament, the
2006 World Cup with was hosted in Germany. While the team made it through to the
first round by dispatching the Czech Republic by 2-0 and the United States by
2-1, it succumbed to Brazil in the second round with a 3-0 loss.
However, Ghana has enjoyed much success in FIFA's age-restricted tournaments.
The Black Starlets (the Ghanaian U17 team) have won the FIFA Under-17 World Cup
title twice and finished as runners-up twice, while the Black Satellites (the
Ghanaian U20 team) too have finished as the runners-up in the FIFA Under-20
World Cup twice.
Well-known Ghanaian footballers include Samuel Kuffour, Abedi Pele, Tony Yeboah,
Michael Essien and Ibrahim Abdul Razak, all of whom were listed in the top 30
African footballers of all-time by the Confederation of African Football (CAP)
in 2007.
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