Ghana coach Chris Hughton says the two international friendlies against Mexico and the United States of America and Mexico will offer his team solid grounds to prepare for both the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers in November and the Africa Cup of Nations in January.

The Black Stars will pit their strength against CONCACAF Gold Cup champions Mexico on Saturday, October 14 before taking on the United States of America on Tuesday, October 17, 2023, as part of the build-up for the forthcoming qualifiers and the Cup of Nations.

In a pre-match interview for the first game against Mexico, the former Brighton and Hove Albion boss Hughton asserted that the two games will help Ghana prepare for the upcoming fixtures.

“You plan and hope to build something. We have two games here in USA which I think will be advantageous for us as regards to our preparations going into the two (2026 FIFA) World Cup games and of course into AFCON,” he told ghanafa.org.

“There are areas of our game that we can improve there is no doubt about that. Perhaps scoring goals early enough in games to take pressure off ourselves is one area we are seriously working on” he added.

Ghana will begin the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers against Madagascar and Comoros on November 13 and 21 before shifting focus to the Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 in January.

The Black Stars are paired with record holders Egypt and emerging forces Cape Verde and Mozambique in Group  B.