Missing the World Cup

Ghana's World Cup boycott of 1966 was a protest at the number of places at the World Cup given by FIFA to Africa. It is a story of politics, decolonisation and pan-Africanism.

African champions in 1963 and 1965, and Olympic quarter-finalists in 1964, Ghana would have been the favourites to qualify for England – but the team, nicknamed the Black Stars, never got their chance. Missing the World Cup meets two players who regret their World Cup absence to this day – Osei Kofi and former team-mate Kofi Pare – and those close to the key agitators of the boycott, with another Ghanaian, Ohene Djan, eloquently leading the protest alongside the remarkable Ethiopian Yidnekatchew Tessema, a onetime Confederation of African Football president who was also a star player, coach and administrator.