Ghana just got beaten 5-1 by Austria. Austria.
Not Germany. Not France. Not Brazil. Austria. And now, three days later, Otto Addo has to pick his players off the floor and walk them into MHPArena in Stuttgart to face a German side on a six-game winning streak. If the Austrian nightmare was the bad dream, this is the moment you wake up and realise things can actually get worse.
There are calls back home for Addo to be sacked. The World Cup opener against Panama is in June. And Monday night's opposition just came from behind three times to beat Switzerland 4-3 with Florian Wirtz running the show so completely that he had a direct hand in every single Germany goal. Four contributions in one match. The man is not walking into this game. He is floating.
Something has to change for Ghana. The question is whether three days is enough time to figure out what.
Photo Credit ( Getty Images)
Germany vs Ghana: Key Stats
Head-to-head: Germany 2 wins, Ghana 0 wins, 2 draws. Ghana have never beaten Germany
Germany: Six consecutive wins, keeping clean sheets in four of them
Germany: Won their last two home games 4-0 against Luxembourg and 6-0 against Slovakia
Germany: Wirtz scored twice and assisted twice in a 4-3 win over Switzerland on Friday
Ghana: Lost three consecutive games, conceding 8 goals and scoring just 2
Ghana: Thrashed 5-1 by Austria on Friday, conceding four goals in the second half
Ghana: Scored more than one goal in just one of their last seven matches
Ghana: Only 3 shots on target across their last three games before the Austria match
Ghana: Missing Kudus, Lamptey, Salisu, Paintsil, Inaki Williams and Thomas-Asante
Photo Credit (Getty Images)
What to Expect
Germany will want a response after the Switzerland game exposed their defensive fragility. Nagelsmann was not fully satisfied despite the win and has already signalled he wants a cleaner, more controlled performance. That is bad news for Ghana. When Germany are focused on being solid and structured rather than playing open football, they are genuinely difficult to break down. Lennart Karl gets his first Germany start as an 18-year-old, which tells you Nagelsmann is not taking this match lightly in terms of development. Wirtz may not start after his exertions on Friday but even a rotated Germany front line of Gnabry, Schade, Karl and Woltemade has more than enough quality to punish a Ghana defence that was falling apart before halftime against Austria.
Ghana are in crisis and the numbers make uncomfortable reading. Three straight defeats. Eight goals conceded. Two scored. Kudus is injured and watching from home. Inaki Williams is unavailable. Thomas-Asante is out. The attacking options that Addo relies on are being stripped away one by one. Jordan Ayew scored a 77th-minute consolation against Austria and is Ghana's top scorer in qualifying with seven goals, but a consolation in a 5-1 defeat tells you nothing about what this team can produce against elite opposition. Addo will shuffle the defensive shape, bring Partey back into midfield to try to impose some structure, and hope for a much better second-half performance than the one that collapsed so dramatically in Vienna.
Predicted Lineups
Germany (4-2-3-1)
Baumann; Kimmich, Thiaw, Rudiger, Brown; Gnabry, Gross, Stach; Karl, Woltemade, Schade
Ghana (3-4-1-2)
Zigi; Senaya, Pfeiffer, Djiku, Mensah; Issahaku, Partey, Sulemana, Semenyo; Adu; Ayew
Players to Watch
Florian Wirtz - Even if he starts on the bench, he will come on. And when he does, Ghana will feel it. Four goal contributions in 90 minutes against Switzerland was not a coincidence. It was a statement. He is in the form of his life at exactly the right time before a World Cup and Ghana are the next team in his path.
Lennart Karl - Eighteen years old and about to make his first Germany start in front of a home crowd. The Bayern Munich teenager replaced Sane in Basel and looked calm and composed. This is his audition for a World Cup squad place and he knows it.
Jordan Ayew - Seven World Cup qualifying goals and Ghana's most experienced and reliable forward right now. He cannot do it alone but he is the one player in this Ghana squad who has consistently showed up when the team needed him. If Ghana are going to score, it almost certainly comes through him.
Thomas Partey - Ghana need their captain to impose himself in midfield and set the tempo. Against Austria the midfield was overrun completely. If Partey can protect the defence and give Ghana some stability with the ball, at least the scoreline stays manageable.
Prediction
Germany to win: 1.23
Ghana to win: 11.12
Draw: 6.93
Over 3.5 Goals: 1.96
Prediction: Germany 4-1 Ghana
The data says this one clearly. Germany have won their last two home games 4-0 and 6-0. Ghana have conceded eight goals in three games and have just one win in seven matches against non-African opposition since the 2022 World Cup. Germany are structured, motivated to respond after Switzerland's defensive chaos, and playing in front of a home crowd that expects goals. Ghana may start brightly out of sheer pride and desperation, Ayew will get his chance, but once Germany settle into their rhythm the gulf in quality will show. This is going to be a long evening for the Black Stars.
