Former Ghanaian footballer Nii Odartey Lamptey has criticized Black Stars head coach Carlos Queiroz over the defensive style of play the team exhibited during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

According to him, he watched three of Ghana’s matches at the tournament, but the team’s performances did not impress him in any way.

The former midfielder noted that, in terms of style of play, the 2026 edition was the worst he had seen, fuming over the defensive approach.

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“I watched all the matches and personally, I’m not impressed. If I look at the team that went to the first World Cup in South Africa, you can’t compare this team to them. And then 2014. And then our last World Cup in 2022.
Even though we didn’t do well then, I think that team was far, far better than this. A proper way to defend is to attack. If you attack, you defend a million times, they beat you. There’s no way a team can defend throughout 90 minutes,” he said in an interview with 3Sports.

Lamptey called for a more possession-based style of football, which he described as Ghana’s blueprint for many years, citing the 2010 World Cup team as an example.

“You should have a team that can hold the ball. And this is what we couldn’t do, and it was haunting us. All the teams I mentioned, the Ghana team in 2010, we could hold the ball. Look at our midfielders. We had ball jugglers and all that. This team, no. And this is haunting us,” he added.

Despite the tactical criticisms facing Queiroz, the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has renewed his contract, and he is set to continue as head coach for the 2027 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.

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GFA's Fred Acheampong speaks on Queiroz contract, criticism of defensive tactics