Victor Ikpeba has urged supporters of the Ghana's Black Stars not to panic, recalling how the Super Eagles progressed to the knockout stage of the 1998 World Cup despite a chaotic build-up.

Under legendary Serbian coach Bora Milutinović, Nigeria failed to win any of their pre-tournament friendly matches ahead of France 1998, drawing 2–2 with Jamaica before suffering defeats to Germany, Yugoslavia and the Netherlands.

Otto Addo, a former teammate of Ikpeba during their time at Borussia Dortmund, was dismissed as head coach of the Black Stars shortly after their 2–1 friendly loss to Germany.

The defeat in Stuttgart extended Ghana's poor run to five consecutive losses in friendly matches, coming just days after a heavy 5–1 defeat in Austria on Friday.

Ikpeba, who was part of Nigeria’s squad at the 1998 Fifa World Cup, drew on his own experience to highlight how a difficult build-up can still lead to success on the biggest stage.

Speaking on SuperSport's Monday Night Football, as monitored by allnigeriasoccer.com, Ikpeba said: "Ghana are one of the great countries of African football. If you look at the statistics in the few World Cups they have been involved in, it has not been fantastic.

"Remember when they did not qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations; it was fire on the mountain in Ghana and for the young manager.

"He was my teammate in Dortmund, and I give credit to the Ghana FA president for keeping faith with him. Somebody will have to be careful not to win too many friendly games."

Ikpeba emphasised that Ghana's recent heavy defeat to Austria should not trigger panic among fans, noting that such results can serve as valuable lessons for the team.

"We had a very chaotic preparation for the 1998 World Cup, and we lost most of our friendly games, yet we won our first two games at the World Cup.

"The Ghanaian fans should be a little bit calm. Yes, it's a prestige match. It's not because you lose 5-1 that it becomes the end of the road for this team.

"They will learn some lessons from it, and it might be positive for them going forward in subsequent friendly matches. They will get their mojo back, and they will do well in the next World Cup."

Ghana are in Group L of the 2026 World Cup, alongside Panama, Croatia and England.