The Gambia head coach Jonathan McKinstry Brian has described the Black Stars as a “great team” despite his side’s emphatic 4-2 victory over Ghana in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Ghana suffered a damaging defeat at the Accra Sports Stadium on Tuesday, surrendering a two-goal advantage before the Scorpions completed a remarkable comeback to claim all three points.
The result extended Ghana’s difficult run in AFCON qualifying and raised further questions about the current state of the four-time African champions.
However, McKinstry believes Ghana’s struggles should be viewed within the context of a team undergoing a generational transition rather than as evidence that the Black Stars have become an ordinary side.
“I also think Black Stars team is a great team,” McKinstry said after the match. “I know at the moment they’re going through a re-generation phase.”
The Northern Irish coach drew on his own experience with the Gambia, explaining that rebuilding a national team can produce difficult periods before the benefits of the transition become evident.
“When I went for the Gambia team team two years ago, we’d given out almost 30 debuts within one year, so we went through our rebuilding phase.”
Jonathan Mckinstry, Head Coach, The Gambia
McKinstry was appointed Gambia head coach in May 2024, with his two-year contract becoming effective on June 1, 2024. He succeeded Tom Saintfiet and was tasked, among other objectives, with helping rebuild the Scorpions and securing qualification for the 2025 AFCON.
His comments therefore appear to come from experience, but they also present an uncomfortable question for Ghana: does the Black Stars’ reputation still accurately reflect their performances?
A Reputation That Is Becoming Increasingly Difficult To Defend
There is little doubt that Ghana remains one of Africa’s historically significant football nations. The Black Stars have won the AFCON four times and have been a regular presence at major international tournaments.
But the team hasn’t won the AFCON title since winning it in 1982 and recent results have increasingly separated that reputation from what is happening on the pitch.
Ghana failed to win a single match during the 2025 AFCON qualifying campaign, collecting only three points from six matches. The Black Stars recorded defeats to Angola and Niger among a campaign that ultimately left the Black Stars bottom of Group F.
Ghana suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Angola in Kumasi in September 2024 before losing 2-1 to Niger in Accra in November of the same year.
The latest defeat to Gambia has added another home setback to that worrying sequence.
For a country that historically made home advantage one of its greatest strengths, repeated defeats on home soil represent a significant change.
Ghana had gone almost 16 years without losing a senior men’s international at home before this recent period, with Cameroon famously ending that run in the 2008 AFCON semi-final. The subsequent losses to Angola, Niger and now Gambia underline how dramatically the home picture has changed.
McKinstry, however, believes Ghana should be afforded the same patience that Gambia received during its own rebuilding process. “When you’re a team like Ghana or Nigeria or Morocco, the rebuilding phase is hard,” he explained. “It’s a little scratchy because you’re expected to win even if you’re rebuilding.”
Is The “Great Team” Still Reflected On The Pitch?
McKinstry’s description of Ghana as a great team is understandable when viewed through the country’s history and the quality of players available to the national side.
The Black Stars still possess established names playing at some of Europe’s leading clubs, while the current squad is also being supplemented by younger players as Ghana attempts to move into a new era.
Yet reputation cannot indefinitely substitute for results.
Ghana’s failure to qualify for the 2025 AFCON, followed by another difficult start to the 2027 qualifying campaign, has created a growing gap between the Black Stars’ historical standing and their current competitive output.
The 4-2 defeat to Gambia made that gap even more visible.
McKinstry’s assessment may therefore be less about Ghana’s present results and more about recognising the potential of a team in transition.
The question now is whether Carlos Queiroz and the Ghana Football Association can turn that potential into consistent performances.
For now, McKinstry has delivered Ghana a compliment after inflicting another damaging defeat on them. The Black Stars’ task is to prove on the pitch to show that his assessment still holds true.
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