Ghana restaurant owner in Boston backs his country to stun England at World Cup 2026

Will Yakah, the 30-year-old co-owner of Boston’s only Ghanaian restaurant, has a simple message for England ahead of their World Cup group-stage meeting at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Tuesday: Ghana are coming for them.

“When the World Cup draw was made, we were so excited,” said Yakah, who runs RedRed in the Roxbury suburb of Boston. “You can only dream of drawing England, with all their Premier League stars, in the World Cup — not only in the US but here in Boston.”

Yakah, a self-confessed Manchester United fanatic who was born in Accra and moved to the United States 12 years ago, delivered the line of the week when asked about England midfielder Declan Rice. “Jollof rice is much more popular than Declan Rice in Ghana,” he said, “even though he plays for Arsenal — one of Ghanaians’ favourite teams.”

Both nations won their opening group fixtures, meaning the winner on Tuesday is guaranteed a place in the knockout rounds. Yakah pointed to a piece of history as further grounds for optimism. “Ghana has never lost the second group match of any World Cup tournament we have ever played in,” he said. “Watch out England — we’re going to win.”

He was also keen to highlight the Premier League connections running through the current Ghana squad. “There are so many Ghana players with links to the Premier League,” he said, citing Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo, Tottenham Hotspur’s Mohammed Kudus, and André Ayew, who has previously played for Nottingham Forest and West Ham United. Ghana’s head coach Carlos Queiroz, he noted, served as Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant at Manchester United for several years.

Yakah invited England supporters making the trip to Foxborough to stop by RedRed beforehand. The restaurant, open for three years and located in Nubian Square — a neighbourhood whose walls carry murals honouring civil rights figures including Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King — serves traditional Ghanaian dishes such as jollof rice, waakye, kelewele (spicy fried plantain), and puff puff.

Yakah also has a stall inside the FIFA Fan Fest in central Boston, though he is permitted to sell food only. For context on the pricing difference: a beer at the Fan Fest costs around £10, compared to £7 at RedRed, a ten-minute journey away.

Boston’s wider area has a significant Ghanaian community. The nearby city of Worcester is home to the second-largest Ghanaian population in the United States, giving Tuesday’s fixture an added edge of local pride.