DREAM JOB: The Unexpected Journey That Turned Him Into One of Ghana’s Top Sports Journalists

Ace sports journalist Godfred Akoto says his career has been shaped as much by unexpected opportunities as by relentless hard work, revealing that covering football’s biggest stages was once a dream he never imagined would become reality.

Speaking with Kafui Dey, Akoto reflected on a journey that has taken him from Ghana’s sports media landscape to covering three FIFA World Cups, insisting that every tournament has reinforced his love for journalism.

For Akoto, football has never been just about goals and trophies. It has been about stories, people and moments that remain etched in memory long after the final whistle.

One such moment came in South Africa in 2010 when Ghana stood a penalty away from becoming the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi-final.

“I was in tears by the pitch side,” he recalled, describing the heartbreaking defeat to Uruguay.

The renowned journalist said the silence that followed Asamoah Gyan’s missed penalty remains one of the most painful experiences of his career.

“It was dead silent… everybody had their hands on their heads. It was cruelty. It was heartbreak of the highest level.”

Yet those painful memories have been matched by extraordinary experiences, including reporting from the 2026 World Cup, where he watched football history unfold once again.

He believes the latest tournament surpassed previous editions as a global spectacle, although nothing could quite match the atmosphere of South Africa in 2010.

“As a spectacle, this one was better. The football was better. But in terms of the pure, organic feeling of what football could be, the 2010 World Cup; the colour and the noise. It was just a whole different ball game.”

Looking back, Akoto says every tournament has taught him that journalism is about much more than reporting results.

“For every journalist, I say, if you get the opportunity and you can afford it, cover a World Cup. It’s not just football. It’s life.”

That simple advice perhaps best captures the career of a journalist who has turned a passion for sport into a profession, discovering along the way that the biggest stories are often the human ones.