Ghana sack coach Hughton after AFCON exit

Ghana have sacked head coach Chris Hughton following the Black Stars’ group stage exit at the Africa Cup of Nations, the Ghana Football Association have confirmed.

The West Africans took just two points from their three Group B matches, and their slim hopes of progressing as one of the four best third-placed teams were extinguished on Tuesday with Mauritania’s shock victory over Algeria in Bouaké.

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“The Ghana Football Association wishes to announce that Chris Hughton has been relieved of his duties as head coach of the senior National team with immediate effect,” read a GFA statement.

“The Ghana Football Association will in the coming days provide a roadmap on the future direction of the Black Stars.”

Hughton’s backroom staff — including former Aston Villa midfielder George Boateng, ex-Black Stars keeper Richard Kingston, and Didi Dramani — have all also been let go by the federation.

“The Executive Council has also taken a decision to dissolve the technical team of the Black Stars,” the statement concluded.

Sixty-five-year-old former Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion manager Hughton took over as national team boss in February 2023, having served as the federation’s technical advisor for the previous year.

He occupied in this role during the 2022 World Cup, as Ghana were eliminated in the group stage, supporting head coach Otto Addo before replacing him soon after the tournament in Qatar.

However, Hughton, whose father was Ghanaian, has overseen a disappointing Nations Cup campaign for the four-time champions.

Despite taking the lead, they were defeated 2-1 by minnows Cape Verde in their opener — conceding a 92nd-minute goal — before holding Egypt 2-2 in their second group match on Thursday.

The win they required to progress in their final group game against Mozambique was firmly in their grasp following two Jordan Ayew penalties, only for the Mambas to score twice in second-half stoppage time to salvage a 2-2 draw.

This left Ghana in third place with two points, and after results in other groups went against them, the Black Stars were confirmed as eliminated from the tournament on Tuesday.

Hughton, who had been accosted by an unhappy supporter in the team hotel after the defeat by Cape Verde, was verbally abused by Ghanaian supporters and journalists after Monday’s draw.

He acknowledged afterward that the Black Stars had fallen well short of expectations.

“When you are unable to see the game through, it becomes very difficult,” he said. “Our performances have not been good.

“We played three games, conceded two goals in each game and have ourselves in a difficult situation.

“My assessment of my results is that they haven’t been good enough.”

Information from Reuters contributed to this report.