Former Ghana international Kevin-Prince Boateng believes a lack of team spirit contributed to the Black Stars’ exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup following their 1-0 defeat to Colombia in the Round of 32.

Ghana’s campaign ended at Kansas City Stadium on Saturday after a narrow loss to the South Americans, despite reaching the knockout stage for the first time in 16 years.

Reflecting on the tournament, the former Portsmouth and AC Milan midfielder said building unity within the squad is essential for success, while acknowledging that head coach Carlos Queiroz had limited time to prepare the team.

The Germany-born former Black Stars star also pointed to nations such as Cape Verde, Curaçao and Morocco as examples of teams that have exceeded expectations through togetherness.

“It’s missing the team spirit, and I said that before the tournament. If Ghana builds that team spirit, which is difficult because the coach came in just a month before, then things will improve. But you need to build that team spirit,” Boateng said.

“If you see Cabo Verde, Curacao, all these small nations, they survive, and they threaten the big nations. Why? Because they have team spirit. Morocco, team spirit. That’s what it’s about, especially in a tournament in a short time,” he added.

Boateng also compared Ghana’s recent campaign with his own World Cup experiences, saying: “We had team spirit in 2010. In 2014, we didn’t have team spirit. That’s why we went home. It’s all about the spirit.”

Kevin Prince Boateng believes Ghana has the quality to compete at the highest level but insists building a stronger team spirit will be crucial if the Black Stars are to achieve greater success in future tournaments.