Otto Addo steps down as Ghana head coach after falling just short in World Cup round of 16 bid

Otto Addo and Ghana came very close to upsetting the odds and reaching the round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup. After the game, the 47 year old revealed that he will step down as Ghana head coach to focus solely on his role at Borussia Dortmund.

Ghana’s eventful World Cup campaign came to an abrupt end on Friday evening as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Uruguay and were eliminated from the tournament as a result. Otto Addo nearly led the talented Ghana team to the round of 16. But after their elimination from the World Cup, he reiterated his decision to step down as head coach.

"“It was clear that I would stop after the World Cup. At the moment, me and my family see our future in Germany. I like my role at Borussia Dortmund. We’re very happy there. Right from the first day, I said if we qualified for the World Cup I’d resign afterwards, even if we would have been world champions”“Football is beautiful, sometimes it is ugly. It is ugly for us today. We have to learn and I’m very sure we will learn from this in the future.”"

Otto Addo was appointed Ghana head coach on a temporary basis following their underwhelming performance at the Africa Cup of Nations. He helped Ghana win their World Cup qualification play-off against Nigeria, and was given the job for the tournament in Qatar.

Ghana made a big splash at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, but fell just short in their bid to reach the round of 16. They suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat to Portugal in their group stage opener, but bounced back brilliantly to beat South Korea on matchday two. Ghana faced Uruguay on matchday three, where a missed penalty proved to be costly as they fell to a 2-0 defeat.

Otto Addo had already revealed ahead of the World Cup that he would be stepping down as Ghana head coach after the end of the tournament. Now he will return to Borussia Dortmund, where he works as a talent coach and first-team trainer.