More Ghanaians secure US visas ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup travel

More Ghanaians have secured United States visas ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup after the US Embassy in Ghana handled about 38,000 nonimmigrant visa applications during the first half of the year. The figure was almost 60 per cent higher than the approximately 24,000 applications processed in the same period of 2025.

Rolf Olson, the embassy’s Charge d’Affaires, said the higher volume led to thousands of additional visa issuances. Some of those applicants are seeking to travel to the United States to watch the World Cup, which will be hosted there in 2026.

The embassy dealt with more than 14,000 extra applications compared with the first six months of last year. To manage the increase, it temporarily added around 30 consular staff members drawn from US diplomatic missions in other parts of the world.

The extra personnel helped shorten waiting periods and increased the number of applications the Accra mission could process. Olson said the staffing boost enabled more Ghanaians to receive visas than would have been possible with the embassy’s previous capacity.

He disclosed the figures at his residence in Accra while hosting journalists who had covered the World Cup in the United States and sharing their experiences. The visa activity highlights the travel demand linked to the tournament among people in Ghana.

The embassy also plans to broaden its sports diplomacy work in Ghana through a Sports Envoy Programme. Two US professional athletes and coaches are expected to take part, with Ghanaian-American Kofi Sarkodie among the planned participants.

The envoys are expected to work with high school coaches and female student athletes, as well as deliver a two-day training programme for high school coaches in the Northern, Ashanti and Greater Accra regions. The programme is intended to support coaching skills and youth engagement through sport.