World Cup 2026 was a special tournament – Ghana assistant coach Roger De Sa

Black Stars assistant coach Roger De Sa has described the 2026 FIFA World Cup as a memorable and well-organised tournament, despite Ghana’s disappointing Round of 32 elimination.

The South African coach joined Ghana’s technical team ahead of the global showpiece in North America and played a role in the Black Stars’ campaign.

Ghana began the tournament with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Panama before playing out a goalless draw against England.

However, a 2-1 defeat to Croatia in their final Group L fixture saw the Black Stars finish third in the standings and progress to the Round of 32, where they were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Colombia to end their World Cup journey.

Reflecting on the competition in an interview with KickOff, De Sa praised the organisation of the tournament, describing every aspect of the event as first-class.

“You know, World Cups are always special, you go to one or two of them, and they always get better, you know. The third one is even better,” he shared during an interview with KickOff.

“I thought it was a fantastic tournament, very well organised. Great stadiums, great hotels, everything has been good. Good crowds, the stadiums are full,” he adds, revealing the aspect he found to be a challenge.”

Despite his positive assessment, De Sa admitted that the extensive travel between host cities proved challenging for players and coaching staff.

“If there was one difficulty, I think it was the travel. The cities were quite distant sometimes, in different time zones. So, that does have an effect on all the teams.

“The travel is a bit taxing on the players,” he added.

With the World Cup campaign now over, Ghana will turn its attention to the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

The Black Stars have been drawn in Group C alongside Ivory Coast, Somalia and The Gambia, with the qualifying campaign scheduled to begin in September as Ghana aims to secure a return to the continental showpiece.