Michael Essien believes Ghana should’ve won at least one trophy during his time

Former Ghana international Michael Essien believes the Black Stars were unlucky not to win a trophy during his time with the national team.

Essien had an illustrious career with the Black Stars, playing from 2002 until his retirement from international football in 2012. He was part of the Ghana squad that reached the semifinals of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the final of the 2010 edition, where they lost to Egypt.

Essien admitted that it still "hurts" to know they couldn’t win a trophy for the national team.

He shared this in an interview with Sporty FM:

Yes, [it hurts that we didn't win a trophy] because we were so unlucky with the AFCON 2008. We got so close, but it didn't happen. We would have loved to win something for the nation, but it didn't happen, and we had to move on.

Since Essien's retirement, the Black Stars have reached the AFCON final once, in 2015, but lost to Côte d'Ivoire on penalties.

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Essien on Black Stars AFCON failure

Essien also expressed surprise at the Black Stars' failure to qualify for the 2025 AFCON.

I would say I was surprised we didn’t make it to the AFCON, but there’s a whole lot going on with the Black Stars. It is sad, but we have to move on. What has happened has happened, and sometimes it’s better not to qualify than to just add to the numbers. If you qualify, you have to compete.

Ghana returns to action on Friday at the Accra Sports Stadium, hosting Chad in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

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They will then travel to Morocco to face Madagascar on Monday, March 24, 2025.