Ghana will kick off their FIFA World Cup campaign on Wednesday in Toronto, with a Group L clash against Panama.
The Black Stars missed the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Morocco, but this tournament offers them some hope of redemption under Carlos Queiroz.
Queiroz replaced Otto Addo in April, with the latter having been controversially dismissed despite guiding Ghana to World Cup qualification.
Ironically, Queiroz himself is widely understood to have been forced out by one of Ghana's rivals - South Africa - after guiding them to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.
There, Bafana Bafana were led by Jomo Sono after Queiroz resigned following the appointment of Sono as a technical director - an appointment which the Portuguese coach felt was designed to undermine him.
Queiroz took charge of Iran right before the 2022 World Cup, giving him experience of steadying the ship in a limited timeframe. However, his previous eight-year stint with them gave him at least some foresight, which he has had to do without in the Ghana hotseat.
The Black Stars suffered a 2-0 defeat to Mexico with Queiroz absent from the bench last month before Caleb Yirenkyi scored the first Ghana goal under his leadership in a 1-1 draw with Wales.
Panama picked up a win and a draw in back-to-back matches away to South Africa in March, giving Ghana a sense of what they can do against an African team of similar strength.
Thomas Christiansen's side have had mixed results in subsequent friendlies, losing 6-2 to Brazil before beating the Dominican Republic 4-2 and drawing 1-1 with Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Key details
Date: Wednesday, June 17 at 19:00 local time in Toronto (23:00 GMT, 00:00 on Thursday BST, 01:00 on Thursday CAT)
Venue: Toronto Stadium, Toronto
How to watch: For viewers in Ghana, the match is scheduled to air on SuperSport's channels 204, 205 and 222.
SuperSport has the rights to all 104 games at the tournament, while Ghana's public broadcaster, GTV, has also secured a package featuring rights for key World Cup games, as have Sporty TV and Channel One TV, as per widespread reports.
ITV has the rights for this fixture in the UK, while FOX holds English-language broadcast rights in the USA.
Team news
Mohammed Kudus is Ghana's most conspicuous absence in their World Cup squad, with the Tottenham Hotspur attacking midfielder/winger omitted due to concerns over his fitness after January's quad injury.
CF Montréal forward Prince Owusu was omitted despite his superb form in Major League Soccer.
Thomas Partey is unavailable for the Black Stars after being denied entry into Canada.
Panama have named an experienced squad for the World Cup, as they seek to surpass their group stage exit in their only previous appearance at the tournament in 2018.
Expected lineups
Ghana
GK Lawrence Ati-Zigi
LB Gideon Mensah | CB Jerome Opoku | CB Kojo Peprah Oppong | RB Marvin Senaya
CM Elisha Owusu | CM Caleb Yirenkyi
LW Iñaki Williams | ST Jordan Ayew | RW Antoine Semenyo
Panama
LWB Éric Davis | CB Andrés Andrade | CB José Córdoba | CB Jiovany Ramos | RWB Amir Murillo
CM Aníbal Godoy | CM Adalberto Carrasquilla
LW Ismael Díaz | ST José Fajardo | RW José Luis Rodríguez
Stats
Ghana's first World Cup appearance was in 2006, but 2026 is their fifth appearance in the last six tournaments. Their only two knockout rounds appearances were in 2006, when they made the round of 16, and 2010, when they were infamously eliminated by Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals.
Prince Owusu was left out of Ghana's squad despite having picked up nine goals and five assists in 14 MLS appearances (13 starts) this season.