"Officially, no one from the Ghana Football Association has spoken to me." That's Joachim Löw, via Sky Sport Germany, on Friday — making clear that whatever the Black Stars' wishlist looks like, it hasn't turned into an actual phone call yet.
Ghana are in the market after sacking Otto Addo last Tuesday, and the timing matters. The 2026 World Cup draw has already placed them in a group with England, Croatia, and Panama. They need a coach, and they need one soon — the federation president suggested a decision within "a week or two."
A World Cup winner on the shortlist
Löw winning the 2014 World Cup with Germany is the obvious headline. What's more relevant here is what he's done since leaving the job after Euro 2021: essentially nothing. He's turned down club offers and national team approaches, describing them as "not motivating." Ghana, then, would have to clear a fairly high bar just to get a conversation going.
He was careful not to slam the door completely. "I will consider options that I find interesting," he said. Whether Ghana's project — a genuinely difficult World Cup group, no recent major tournament success, and an FA mid-reconstruction — clears that bar is another question entirely.
Before Löw's name surfaced, ESPN had been pointing to Walid Regragui and Hervé Renard as the frontrunners. Both are proven at international level on the continent. Regragui took Morocco to a World Cup semi-final in 2022. Renard has won the Africa Cup of Nations twice with two different countries. Either would be a credible appointment. Either would probably cost less political capital to land than a former Germany manager who hasn't coached in four years.
What this means for Ghana's odds
Ghana's World Cup group is already the kind that punishes disorganization. England are tournament favourites in most markets; Croatia are tactically disciplined and tournament-hardened. A coaching appointment that drags into the summer, or one made for name value over fit, could turn a difficult draw into a genuinely bleak one.
The next ten days will tell you a lot about how seriously Ghana's FA is approaching this. So far, the frontrunner they're actually talking to hasn't been confirmed. That's not ideal.
