World Cup Qualifiers: Paintsil could miss games against Mali and CAR

Ghana winger Joseph Paintsil will miss the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Mali and the Central African Republic.

The Black Stars are set to face Mali at Stade du 26 Mars on June 6, followed by a home game against the Central African Republic at Baba Yara Stadium.

However, the 26-year-old Paintsil, who recently joined Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy, has sustained an injury that will sideline him until June.

LA Galaxy coach Greg Vanney, in a pre-game press conference ahead of their match against Houston Dynamo on Sunday, revealed that Paintsil was substituted after 52 minutes during Galaxy’s 2-2 draw with Minnesota on May 16 and did not play in the subsequent game against Charlotte FC on May 18.

Discussing Paintsil’s injury, Vanney mentioned the possibility of the winger returning for the June 2 matchup against Chicago Fire.

“We’ll see how he progresses through the course of the week. He’s very questionable for Chicago. We’ll monitor his recovery this week. He’s played around 45 games since his European season started in August, so this is a good time for him to recover and prepare for the second half of the season,” Vanney said.

Since his move from Belgian side KRC Genk, Paintsil has scored four goals and provided four assists in 13 league games.

Meanwhile, Ghana’s head coach Otto Addo is expected to announce his squad for the upcoming fixtures soon.

Currently, Ghana sits fourth in Group I with three points and aims to revive their qualification hopes after a mixed start to their campaign.

The Black Stars secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Madagascar but suffered an unexpected defeat against Comoros.