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Nieuws
- 39 minutes ago
Former Ghana star doesn't want Nketiah and Hudson-Odoi called up for World Cup: 'It's not fair!'
Martin Macdonald
- 18 Dec 2025 07:45 CST
- 5 min read
Nieuws
Former Ghana star Derek Boateng does not want his country to call up players for the 2026 World Cup who did not help them qualify for the tournament.
The next edition of the World Cup will take place next summer and Ghana find themselves in a group alongside England, Croatia and Panama.
There have been suggestions that they could look to add more firepower to their ranks ahead of the tournament by calling up Crystal Palace's Eddie Nketiah and Nottingham Forest's Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Both of these players have represented England previously but both are eligible to play for Ghana.
Boateng, who represented his country at two World Cups, insists the pair should not be in North America next year.
🚨 Derek Boateng: "To be honest, I don't think [Eddie Nketiah and Hudson-Odoi] will add anything significant to the team right now....The team is not a place for players to come and 'try their luck' when they realise they can’t play for England or..."pic.twitter.com/YETzhCbO7f
— Gary Al-Smith (@garyalsmith) December 18, 2025
"I feel like those players, they should not call them, they should not invite them," he told Sporty FM.
"It’s not fair.
"They won’t add nothing, they should not call them. Football is about teamwork and bringing them in would bring a lot of chaos to the national team and a lot of trouble.
"You have to remember, players have friends in the team. If you are friends with someone and they play qualification [matches] and then you invite the likes of Nketiah, you would not be happy.
"I’ll also say, it’s not their fault they didn’t come and play for Ghana. From the beginning, nobody was there for them."
Boateng recalled a situation when Kevin-Prince Boateng didn't appear for a qualifying match against DR Congo but then turned up for a friendly versus England.
"I quite remember when I was with the national team, we went to Congo to play qualification, Kelvin [Prince Boateng] was invited but he did not show up," the former Getafe and Fulham man said.
"We played England next and he came to the hotel, we then made sure he was out of the squad."
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