Ghana Football Association (GFA) President Kurt Okraku believes the Black Stars have made significant progress and will approach their upcoming clash with Côte d’Ivoire with confidence.

Ghana are set to face the Ivorians in what is expected to be a highly competitive encounter, with Okraku describing Côte d’Ivoire as a “very good team.”

According to the GFA boss, Ghana’s performance at their last FIFA World Cup demonstrated improved organisation and the team’s ability to compete at the highest level.

“They [Côte d’Ivoire] are a very good team. I think that it will be a very interesting game,” Okraku told 3Sports.

“What I also know is that Ghana showed a lot of organisation in the last World Cup, and showed that we are improving and we showed that we can compete at the highest level.”

Okraku also pointed to Ghana’s performance at the tournament as evidence of the team’s progress, despite entering the competition as the lowest-ranked side.

“I am reminded again that going into the World Cup as the least-ranked team, we came up as the 24th-ranked team, and that should tell you that Ghana has made progress at the Mundial,” he said.

The GFA president believes the psychological barrier of losing games has also been overcome within the national team.

“That psychological block of losing games, I think, doesn’t exist anymore within this team,” Okraku added.

He is therefore confident the Black Stars will travel to Côte d’Ivoire with belief and a determination to compete.

“We will go to Côte d’Ivoire with youthful confidence, and we will be competitive,” he said.