Ghana’s Black Queens have upgraded their technical setup ahead of the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) with the appointment of Swedish performance analyst James Slaughter.

Slaughter joined the Black Queens from top Scandinavian club Malmö FF where he launched his career at age 16 and eventually rose to Head of Performance Analysis. 

Inspired by glowing reviews of Ghana’s rich football culture from former colleagues, he called representing the nation a huge honor.

Working alongside Head Coach Kim Lars Björkegren and assistant analyst Ronny, his primary focus will be sharpening the squad's strengths and dissecting opposition tactics including scouting tricky group stage opponents like Cape Verde. 

By leveraging detailed video insights, he aims to give the Black Queens the extra "two or three percent" needed to win tight tournament matches and deliver a memorable WAFCON campaign.

Expressing his excitement about joining Ghana, Slaughter said: "I love working in football and being part of a team. Representing a country, especially a beautiful country like Ghana, is one of the biggest honours you can have."

His role will be central to WAFCON preparations as he will record training sessions and matches to refine tactics and study opposition strengths and weaknesses.

"I help the coaches pick out important clips and situations so can improve the players, while also studying our opponents to understand their strengths and weaknesses," he explained.

Despite the challenge of scouting less familiar group stage opponents like Cape Verde, Slaughter remains focused on delivering results for the fans.

"We'll work until the very last percent. We'll workday and night to make the people of Ghana proud and create good results and unforgettable memories," he stated.