Ghana U23 football team (also known as Ghana Olympic football team or Black Meteors), represents Ghana in international football competitions in Olympic Games, All-Africa Games, and CAF U-23 Championship. The selection is limited to players aged 23 and under the age of 23, except during the Olympic Games where the use of three overage players is allowed. The team is controlled by the Ghana Football Association (GFA).
The team had qualified for five straight Olympic Games Football Tournaments when the tournament was still a full senior national team competition. In 1992, they became the first African country to win a medal at Olympic Games football. The Black Meteors failed to qualify for Beijing 2008 and although being the 2011 All-Africa Games champions, the Ghana Olympic football team failed to qualify for the 2011 CAF U-23 Championship, thus did not participate in London 2012.[2]
History
Ghana appeared in the quarter-final of the Olympic Games in 1964 where they were beaten by Romania in the quarter-final. They played in the 1968, 1972 Olympic tournaments, but never progressed further than the Group stages. They also qualified in 1976 then withdrew.
In 1992, Ghana reached the semi-final for the first time, they defeated Australia 2-0 to claim their first bronze medal in the event, and thus became the first African country to win a medal at football.
Ghana reached the quarter-finals of the Olympics football tournament in 1996 for the second time, they lost 4–2 against Brazil.
In the Athens 2004 tournament Ghana were eliminated in the Group stages after they lost a must win game 1–0 against Japan. The team were not able to qualify for Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
^Since 1992, squads for Football at the Summer Olympics have been restricted to three players over the age of 23. The achievements of such teams are not usually included in the statistics of the international team.
