Opinion: Queiroz brings structure, but at what cost to Ghana's attacking identity?

The 73-year-old Portuguese arrived weeks before the World Cup, taking charge of a Black Stars side that had been exposed by systemic defensive failings under his predecessor.

He delivered on that mandate. Ghana reached the knockout stage of the 2026 World Cup - advancing from Group L after beating Panama, drawing with England and losing to Croatia, before a 1-0 defeat by Colombia in the last 32.

But the manner of that progress has split opinion in Ghana.

The death of 'Agoro' Football 

Ghanaian football has long been defined by "Agoro" - a style rooted in flair, pace and expressive attacking play.

Queiroz's approach is markedly different. On his appointment, he dismissed the distinction between defensive and attacking coaches.

"In modern football, there is no such thing as defensive or attacking coaches," he said. "The language I know is the winning language... When we don't have the ball, we must fight together. We must sacrifice."

In practice, that has meant a compact low block - often a 4-1-4-1 or 5-4-1 - built on spatial compression and risk aversion. Against England at the World Cup, Ghana had 22% possession and managed to register only a shot on target in a 0-0 draw.

For some supporters, pragmatism came at the expense of identity.

Attackers in defensive roles

The system has also altered the roles of Ghana's leading forwards.

Antoine Semenyo, for example, is an expansive attacking threat for his club, Manchester City, where he receives the ball high and isolates defenders. For Ghana under Queiroz, he has often been deployed deeper, tracking full-backs and supporting the defensive shape.

The same structural discipline has limited the freedom of AbdulFatawuIssahaku, whose creativity thrives on unpredictability.

The players, however, have publicly backed the approach.

"The manager came in and brought his philosophy. It worked perfectly... We have to defend as a team for 90 minutes to get a result," Semenyo said.

"I have been in a team previously, Bournemouth, where a lot of the time we were defending. I am quite used to it."

A divided debate

The shift has divided pundits and former players.

Critics have described the style as overly cautious. Sports writer Fiifi Anaman called it "excruciating boredom and frustration", arguing it was "pathetic for Ghanaians to find satisfaction in a team that can't go toe to toe with opponents".

Former Ghana international Charles Taylor has questioned the team's inability to build sustained attacking moves.

Others view it as necessary evolution.

Broadcaster Kwabena Yeboah described the appointment as significant, saying: "I don't think the FA has ever appointed a coach with a better CV than Carlos Queiroz," while cautioning that "coaches are not magicians".

Journalist Michael Oti Adjei has drawn parallels with Ghana's disciplined run to the World Cup quarter-finals in 2010, while former captain Asamoah Gyan has stressed the importance of defensive solidity.

"We should be more defensively sound not to concede before we can think about other things," Gyan said.

Queiroz has organised the defence and restored resilience. Whether that foundation can be blended with Ghana's traditional attacking instincts will define the next phase of his tenure as attention turns to qualification for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.