Michael Essien was widely tipped to be one of Africa's next rising stars. Essien made his competitive senior debut in the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations against Morocco on 21 January 2002. but had played for Ghana in a pre-tournament friendly against Egypt on 4 January 2002. On 16 May 2006, Essien was selected to be part of the team that represented Ghana at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. He played in midfield with team captain Stephen Appiah and Sulley Muntari. Essien played in Ghana's 0–2 defeat to Italy, their 2–0 victory over the Czech Republic, and the 2–1 victory
Football in Ghana the eight nations to take part in the first Unity World Cup. In the 1990s, Abédi Pelé and Tony Yeboah received FIFA World Player of the Year top ten nominations: the following decade Sammy Kuffour and Michael Essien received Ballon d'Or nominations. Abédi Pelé was listed in the 2004 "FIFA 100" greatest living footballers. On 13 January 2007, the Confederation of African Football voted Abédi Pelé, Michael Essien, Tony Yeboah, Karim Abdul Razak and Samuel Kuffour as members of the CAF top 30 best African players of all-time. In addition, Abédi and Yeboah were voted as among of the best