Nickname(s) | Black stars | ||
---|---|---|---|
Association | GFA | ||
Confederation | CAF (Africa) | ||
Sub-confederation | WAFU (West Africa) | ||
Head coach | Chris Hughton | ||
Captain | André Ayew | ||
Most caps | André Ayew (113) | ||
Top scorer | Asamoah Gyan (51) | ||
FIFA code | GHA | ||
| |||
FIFA ranking | |||
Current | 60 ![]() | ||
Highest | 14 (April–May 2007, February 2008) | ||
Lowest | 89 (June 2004) | ||
First international | |||
![]() ![]() ![]() (Accra, British Gold Coast; 28 May 1950) | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (Nyasaland; 15 October 1962)[2] | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
![]() ![]() (São José do Rio Preto, Brazil; 27 March 1996)[3] | |||
World Cup | |||
Appearances | 4 (first in 2006) | ||
Best result | Quarter-finals (2010) | ||
Africa Cup of Nations | |||
Appearances | 23 (first in 1963) | ||
Best result | Champions (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982) |
The Ghana national association football team represents Ghana in association football.[5] Prior to 1957, it played as the Gold Coast.
It qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2006. It has won the Africa Cup of Nations 4 times (1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982), while finishing as runners-up 5 times (1968, 1970, 1992, 2010, and 2015).[6]
On 19 August 1962 at the Accra Sports Stadium, it played Real Madrid, who were at the time Spanish champions, former European champions and intercontinental champions, and drew 3–3.[7]
Charles Kumi Gyamfi became coach in 1961, and it won successive African Cup of Nations titles, in 1963 and 1965, and achieved its record win, 13–2 away to Kenya, after the second of these. It reached the final of the tournament in 1968 and 1970, losing 1–0 on each occasion, to DR Congo and Sudan respectively. Its domination of this tournament earned it the nickname "the Black Stars of Africa" in the 1960s.[8]
It failed to qualify for 3 successive African Cup of Nations in the 1970s, and qualified for the Olympic Games football tournaments, becoming the first team from sub-Saharan Africa to qualify for the Games.[9]
Prior to the year 2000, disharmony among the squad which led to parliamentary and executive intervention to settle issues between 2 squad members, Abedi Pele and Tony Yeboah in the 1990s, may have played some part in the failure of the team to build on the successes of the national underage teams in the 1990s, and a generation of Black Stars players who went to the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship final became the "core" of the team at the 2002 African Cup of Nations, and were undefeated for a year in 2005 and reached the final tournament of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The Black Stars started by succumbing to a 2–0 defeat to eventual champions Italy, and wins over Czech Republic (2–0) and United States (2–1) saw it through to the second round, where it lost 3–0 to Brazil.[10]
Under head coach Milovan Rajevac, the Black Stars went on to secure a 100% record in its qualification campaign, winning the group and becoming the first African team to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In the final tournament, it is in Group D with Germany, Serbia and Australia. It reached the round of 16 where it played the United States, winning 2–1 in extra time to become the third African nation to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. It then lost to Uruguay in a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals, having missed a penalty kick in extra time after what would have been the winning goal to send Ghana to the semi-finals was prevented by Luis Suárez's handball, who was then shown a red card for his actions.[11]
In 2013 it became the only team in Africa to reach 4 consecutive semi-finals of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations twice, the first time since between 1963 and 1970.[12]
It was sufficiently ranked by FIFA to start its qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in the Second round. It won the group, and in the following round qualified for the 2014 World Cup finals in November 2013, beating Egypt 7–3 on aggregate in a 2-legged play-off.[13] It was drawn in Group G for the finals, where it faced Germany, Portugal, and the United States.[14] It exited in the group stages recording 1 draw and was the only team to not lose to Germany in the tournament.
In the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, it reached the final, to be denied the title on penalties against Ivory Coast. While its 2017 Africa Cup of Nations campaign ended in a 4th-place finish - the third one in 4 consecutive editions of the tournament - in the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup, it finished behind Egypt and Uganda in their final group. At the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, it was eliminated by Tunisia in the Round of 16. In 2021, Rajevac was brought back, and the team ended up failing to win a match at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations where it lost 2–3 to debutants the Comoros after an André Ayew red card to finish bottom of its group and thus fail to progress beyond the group stage for the first time since 2006. It drew 0–0 vs Nigeria and drew 1–1 in Nigeria to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup on the away goals rule.[15]
Adopted following the independence of Ghana in 1957, the black star has been included in its kits. The Black Stars' kits were sponsored by Puma SE from 2005, with the deal ending in 2014.[16]
Between 1990 and 2006 the Ghana national 3 team used the kit in the colours of the national flag of Ghana, with gold, green and red used, as in the team's crest and also known as the Pan-African colours. The gold with green and red kit concept and design was used in the 60s and 70s, and designed with gold and green vertical stripes and red shoulders. An all black second kit was introduced in 2008 and in 2015, Black Stars' gold-red-green coloured kit and all black coloured kit is to be reassigned to the position of 1st and 2nd kits following the induction of a brown with blue and gold coloured Black Stars 3rd kit in 2012.[17][18]
The team's kit for the 2014 FIFA World Cup was ranked as the best kit of the tournament by BuzzFeed.[19]
2008 Africa Cup of Nations 1st and 2nd kits
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Kit supplier | Period |
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1991–1992 |
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1992–2000 |
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2000–2005 |
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2005– |
World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches have been played at the Sekondi-Takoradi Stadium in Sekondi-Takoradi, the Len Clay Stadium, Kumasi Sports Stadium and Abrankese Stadium in Kumasi, the Cape Coast Sports Stadium in Cape Coast, the Accra Sports Stadium in the Accra and the Tamale Stadium in Tamale. Some smaller, regional stadia (stadiums) were used in the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying and 2004 African Cup of Nations qualification qualifying campaigns.
The training facilities and training grounds are located at Agyeman Badu Stadium, Berekum Sports Stadium in Brong-Ahafo, the Tema Sports Stadium in Tema and the multi-functional Lizzy Sports Complex in Legon.[20]
The Black Stars had no official head because of "corrupt" practices by the then president, Kwesi Nyantakyi.[21] and vice-president George Afriyie,[22] with Frank Davis as director of football, and Edward Bawa as treasurer.[23] The Ghana Football Association (GFA) signed a CN¥92.2 million (US$15 million) deal with Ghanaian state-run oil and gas exploration corporation, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), to sponsor the Black Stars and the renewable contract saw the oil and gas exploration corporation become the global headline sponsor of the Black Stars, with a yearly Black Stars player salary wage bill,[24][25] following the gold mining corporations Ashanti Goldfields Corporation and Goldfields Ghana Limited (GGL), which had been sponsoring the Black Stars since 2005.[26]
On 28 August 2013, Ghana Football Association (GFA) launched a TV channel and named GFA TV. The channel has the exclusive rights to broadcast all the Black Stars' matches.[27] In November 2013, the Black Stars signed a 2013–2015 CN¥30.6 million (US$5 million) and an additional classified multi-million private bank sponsorship deal with the Ghanaian state-run private banking institution UniBank.[28]
The Black Stars maintain an average stadium match attendance of 60,000+ and a match attendance high of 80,000+, such as in the case of its 2010 FIFA World Cup quarter-final against Uruguay in which was attended by 84,017 spectators.[29] Ghana's match against England on 29 March 2011 had the largest away following for any association football national team since the re-opening of Wembley Stadium in 2007.[30] The match was watched by 700 million people around the world.[30]
Following the team's appearances at the 2006 and 2010 World Cup tournaments they were greeted by some hundred avid fans dancing and singing at Kotoka International Airport in Accra.[31]
Main article: Jollof derby |
A rivalry is with the Super Eagles, the Nigeria national team. The "Battle of Supremacy on the Gulf of Guinea" is between 2 of the "most successful teams on the African continent".[32] The proximity of the 2 countries to each other, a dispute between the different association football competitions and wider diplomatic competition for influence across West Africa add to this rivalry.[32][33] The match between these 2 countries is called the Jollof derby.[34]
Match schedules are broadcast in English as in the case of inter-continental matches and in Akan nationally by Adom TV, PeaceFM, AdomFM and HappyFM. During the scheduled qualification for the 2014 World Cup national broadcaster GTV, a sub-division of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), broadcast to the Ghanaian public home qualifiers with away qualifiers broadcast by the satellite television broadcasting corporation Viasat 1. The friendly match against Turkey in August 2013 was televised by Viasat 1 and the qualifiers for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2018 Inter-Continental Championships are scheduled for public broadcast by the corporations GFA TV, GBC and Viasat 1.[35]
Products including books, documentary films, Azonto dances and songs have been made in the name of the team. These may be intended with commercial motives and are focused on previous and future World Cups or Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
Main article: Ghana national football team results (2020–present) |
1 June 2023 AFCON qualification | Ghana ![]() | 3–0 | ![]() | Cape Coast, Ghana |
19:00 UTC±0 |
|
Report | Stadium: Cape Coast Sports Stadium Referee: Mahamadou Kéïta (Mali) |
5 June 2023 AFCON qualification | Central African Republic ![]() | 1–1 | ![]() | Luanda, Angola |
14:00 UTC+1 |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Estádio 11 de Novembro Referee: Pierre Atcho (Gabon) |
10 June 2022 Kirin Cup Soccer | Japan ![]() | 4–1 | ![]() | Kobe, Japan |
18:55 UTC+9 | Report |
|
Stadium: Noevir Stadium Kobe Referee: Kurt Ams (Australia) |
14 June 2022 Kirin Cup Soccer | Chile ![]() | 0–0 (1–3 p) | ![]() | Osaka, Japan |
15:15 UTC+9 | Report | Stadium: Panasonic Stadium Suita Attendance: 6,185 Referee: Hiroki Kasahara (Japan) | ||
Penalties | ||||
23 August Friendly | Qatar ![]() | 2–1 | ![]() | Vienna, Austria |
18:30 UTC+2 | Source Source | Stadium: Ernst-Happel-Stadion |
23 September Friendly | Brazil ![]() | 3–0 | ![]() | Le Havre, France |
19:30 UTC+2 |
|
Report | Stadium: Stade Océane Referee: Mikael Lesage (France) |
27 September Friendly | Nicaragua ![]() | 0–1 | ![]() | Lorca, Spain |
20:00 UTC+2 | Report |
|
Stadium: Estadio Francisco Artés Carrasco Referee: Dario Bel (Croatia) |
17 November Friendly | Ghana ![]() | 2–0 | ![]() | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates |
14:00 UTC+4 | Report | Stadium: Zayed Sports City Stadium Attendance: 650 Referee: Ahmed Issa (United Arab Emirates) |
24 November 2022 FIFA World Cup | Portugal ![]() | 3–2 | ![]() | Doha, Qatar |
19:00 UTC+3 | Report | Stadium: Stadium 974 Attendance: 42,662 Referee: Ismail Elfath (United States) |
28 November 2022 FIFA World Cup | South Korea ![]() | 2–3 | ![]() | Al Rayyan, Qatar |
16:00 UTC+3 |
|
Report | Stadium: Education City Stadium Attendance: 43,983 Referee: Anthony Taylor (England) |
2 December 2022 FIFA World Cup | Ghana ![]() | 0–2 | ![]() | Al Wakrah, Qatar |
18:00 UTC+3 | Report |
|
Stadium: Al Janoub Stadium Attendance: 43,443 Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany) |
23 March 2023 2023 AFCON qualification | Ghana ![]() | 1–0 | ![]() | Kumasi, Ghana |
17:00 UTC±0 |
|
Report | Stadium: Baba Yara Stadium Referee: Jean Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DR Congo) |
27 March 2023 2023 AFCON qualification | Angola ![]() | 1–1 | ![]() | Luanda, Angola |
17:00 UTC+1 | Report |
|
Stadium: Estádio 11 de Novembro Referee: Mohamed Maarouf (Egypt) |
June 2023 AFCON qualification | Madagascar ![]() | v | ![]() | Antananarivo, Madagascar |
--:-- UTC+3 | Stadium: Mahamasina Municipal Stadium |
September 2023 AFCON qualification | Ghana ![]() | v | ![]() | Ghana |
--:-- UTC±0 |
Position | Name |
---|---|
Head coach | ![]() |
Assistant coach | ![]() |
Assistant coach | ![]() |
Goalkeeping coach | ![]() |
See also: Ghana national football team manager |
Since 1957 it has had 32 different head coaches and 3 caretakers. C. K. Gyamfi led the Black Stars to 3 Africa Cup of Nations titles – in 1963, 1965 and 1982 – making Gyamfi the "joint most successful coach" in the competition's history.[45] Fred Osam Duodu led the Black Stars to their 1978 Africa Cup of Nations title;[46] Ratomir Dujković, Milovan Rajevac, and James Kwesi Appiah have led the Black Stars to World Cup qualification.[47][48] 2 Serbian managers guided Ghana to the 2 first World Cup debuts. The team is being headed by Chris Hugton who is the head coach and supported by George Boateng and Mas-Ud Didi Dramani as assistant coaches of the senior national team, the Black Stars since February 2023.[49]
The following players were called up for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches against Angola on 23 and 27 March 2023.[50]
Caps and goals correct as of 27 March 2023, after the match against Angola.
The following have been called up in the past 12 months.
Main article: Ghana A' national football team |
The football association of Ghana (GFA) administers national teams at different levels, including 1 for the local national team. The team is restricted to players who only play in the local league, thus the Ghana Premier League. It is nicknamed Local Black Stars.[51][52][53]
Rank | Player | Caps | Goals | Career |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | André Ayew | 113 | 24 | 2007– |
2 | Asamoah Gyan | 109 | 51 | 2003–2019 |
3 | Richard Kingson | 93 | 1 | 1996–2011 |
4 | John Paintsil | 91 | 0 | 2001–2013 |
5 | Jordan Ayew | 87 | 19 | 2009– |
6 | Harrison Afful | 86 | 0 | 2008–2018 |
7 | Sulley Muntari | 84 | 20 | 2002–2014 |
8 | John Mensah | 81 | 3 | 2001–2012 |
9 | Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu | 78 | 11 | 2008–2017 |
10 | Kwadwo Asamoah | 74 | 4 | 2008–2019 |
Rank | Player | Goals | Caps | Ratio | Career |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Asamoah Gyan | 51 | 109 | 0.47 | 2003–2019 |
2 | Edward Acquah | 45 | 41 | 1.1 | 1956–1964 |
3 | Kwasi Owusu | 36 | 45 | 0.8 | 1968–1976 |
4 | Tony Yeboah | 29 | 59 | 0.49 | 1985–1997 |
5 | Karim Abdul Razak | 25 | 62 | 0.4 | 1975–1988 |
6 | André Ayew | 24 | 113 | 0.21 | 2007– |
7 | Wilberforce Mfum | 20 | 26 | 0.77 | 1960–1968 |
Sulley Muntari | 20 | 84 | 0.24 | 2002–2014 | |
9 | Osei Kofi | 19 | 25 | 0.76 | 1964–1973 |
Abedi Pele | 19 | 73 | 0.26 | 1982–1998 | |
Jordan Ayew | 19 | 87 | 0.22 | 2009– |
Main article: Ghana at the FIFA World Cup |
Ghana have qualified for 4 FIFA World Cup tournaments; 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2022. In 2006, it was the only African side to advance to the second round of the World Cup in Germany, and was the 6th nation in a row from Africa to progress beyond the group stages of the World Cup.[63] It had the youngest team in the 2006 edition with an average age of 23 years and 352 days,[63] and were praised for their improving performance.[64][65] FIFA ranked it 13th out of the 32 countries who competed in the tournament.[66]
In the 2010 World Cup, it progressed beyond the group stages of the World Cup in South Africa, and reached the quarter-finals where it was eliminated by Uruguay. It was defeated on penalty shootout after Luis Suárez hand-balled on the goal line into extra time, preventing a possible winning goal.[67] Of the 32 countries that participated in the 2010 edition, FIFA ranked it 7th.[68]
After beating Egypt 7–3 on aggregate in November 2013, it qualified for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.[69] It was drawn in Group G with Germany, United States and Portugal.[70] For the first time, it fell in the group stage, tying Germany 2–2 and losing to the United States and Portugal by 2–1.[71]
Round | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
World Cup Finals | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 23 | −5 |
World Cup Quals (H) | 34 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 78 | 19 | +59 |
World Cup Quals (A) | 33 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 37 | 42 | −5 |
Total | 82 | 38 | 19 | 25 | 133 | 84 | +49 |
Final | Qualification | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Campaign | |||
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Did not qualify | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1962 | ||||||||||
![]() |
Withdrew | Withdrew | ||||||||||||||||
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Did not qualify | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 5 | 1974 | ||||||||||
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6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1978 | |||||||||||
![]() |
Withdrew | Withdrew | ||||||||||||||||
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Did not qualify | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1990 | ||||||||||
![]() |
4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1994 | |||||||||||
![]() |
8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 1998 | |||||||||||
![]() ![]() |
12 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 2002 | |||||||||||
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Round of 16 | 13th | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 24 | 4 | 2006 | |||
![]() |
Quarter-finals | 7th | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 8 | 2010 | |||
![]() |
Group stage | 25th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 6 | 2014 | |||
![]() |
Did not qualify | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 2018 | ||||||||||
![]() |
Group stage | 24th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 2022 | |||
![]() ![]() ![]() |
||||||||||||||||||
Total | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 18 | 23 | 88 | 43 | 22 | 19 | 128 | 61 |
Main article: Ghana at the Africa Cup of Nations |
Ghana have won the Africa Cup of Nations four times – in 1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982 – bettered by Cameroon and Egypt. As the first winner of three AFCON tournaments, Ghana obtained the right to permanently hold the trophy in 1978.[72] Ghana qualified for the tournament 23 times, finishing as runners-up five times, third once, and fourth place four times. Thus, Ghana has the second-most final game appearances at the tournament behind Egypt (who has ten) with nine. They also hold the record of most consecutive semi-final appearances, with six straight between 2008 and 2017.
Final | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D* | L | GF | GA |
![]() |
Not affiliated to CAF | |||||||
![]() |
Did not qualify | |||||||
![]() |
Champions | 1st | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
![]() |
Champions | 1st | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 5 |
![]() |
Second place | 2nd | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 8 |
![]() |
Second place | 2nd | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
![]() |
Did not qualify | |||||||
![]() | ||||||||
![]() | ||||||||
![]() |
Champions | 1st | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 |
![]() |
Group stage | 5th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
![]() |
Champions | 1st | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 5 |
![]() |
Group stage | 6th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
![]() |
Did not qualify | |||||||
![]() | ||||||||
![]() | ||||||||
![]() |
Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
![]() |
Quarter-finals | 5th | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
![]() |
4th place | 4th | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 5 |
![]() |
Group stage | 11th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
![]() ![]() |
Quarter-finals | 8th | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
![]() |
Quarter-finals | 7th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
![]() |
Did not qualify | |||||||
![]() |
Group stage | 10th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
![]() |
Third place | 3rd | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 5 |
![]() |
Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
![]() ![]() |
4th place | 4th | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 5 |
![]() |
4th place | 4th | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 6 |
![]() |
Runners-up | 2nd | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 |
![]() |
4th place | 4th | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
![]() |
Round of 16 | 12th | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
![]() |
Group stage | 19th | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
![]() |
To be determined | |||||||
2025 | ||||||||
Total | 102 | 54 | 21 | 27 | 133 | 87 |
West African Nations Cup [SCSA Zone III]
|
West African Football Union Nations Cup
|
Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Did not participate | |||||||
![]() | ||||||||
![]() | ||||||||
![]() | ||||||||
![]() | ||||||||
![]() | ||||||||
![]() | ||||||||
![]() | ||||||||
![]() | ||||||||
![]() |
Did not qualify | |||||||
![]() |
Quarter-final | 7th | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 12 |
![]() |
Round 1 | 12th | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 8 |
![]() |
Round 1 | 16th | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
![]() |
Withdrew after qualifying | |||||||
![]() | ||||||||
![]() |
Did not qualify | |||||||
![]() | ||||||||
Total | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 31 |