We Dare To Win” – GOC Backs Black Stars to Shine Against England

On Olympic Day 2026, the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) has sent a strong message of support to the Black Stars ahead of their crucial Group L World Cup clash against England at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.

The GOC urged the team to play with confidence, determination, and unity, drawing inspiration from the Olympic Day theme. The Committee said the match is not just about football but also an opportunity for Ghana to showcase the values of hard work, teamwork, and resilience on the global stage.

Play with pride, passion, and purpose. Black Stars, you can do this. Let’s move, let’s believe, and let’s make Ghana proud.

The GOC further invoked Team Ghana’s enduring slogan, “We Dare To Win,” tying the philosophy that has underpinned the country’s Olympic ambitions to the bravery now required of Queiroz’s squad against a rampant England side. The message arrives at a critical juncture for Ghana’s campaign, with the Black Stars looking to build on the platform secured in their tournament opener.

Ghana opened their World Cup account with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Panama, a result built on resilience rather than fluency, with Yirenkyi snatching a late winner after a swift counter-attack engineered by Brandon Thomas-Asante. That result lifted the Black Stars to second place in Group L and offered timely encouragement ahead of a far sterner examination against an England team that opened its own campaign with a 4-2 win over Croatia, inspired by a decisive second-half intervention from Jude Bellingham.

There was further boost for Ghana on the personnel front, with midfielder Thomas Partey returning to full training and available for selection following his absence from the Panama match. Uncertainty does, however, linger over the fitness of first-choice goalkeeper Lawrence Ati-Zigi, who was withdrawn at half-time against Panama after a first-half collision. Ghana’s technical staff have maintained a day-by-day assessment of his condition, leaving his involvement in Foxborough in the balance.

England and Ghana will meet for the first time in World Cup competition this evening with history offering only a single point of reference: a 1-1 friendly draw at Wembley in March 2011, settled by goals from Andy Carroll and the late Sunderland talisman Asamoah Gyan. Fifteen years on, both nations arrive in Boston transformed, but the Olympic Day message from the GOC frames today’s meeting not merely as a measure of footballing progress, but as an opportunity for the Black Stars to demonstrate the values of courage and unity that Olympic Day exists to celebrate.