Match: Ghana vs. Lesotho

Competition: 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier

Venue: Baba Yara Stadium

Time: 17:00 GMT (5:00PM local time)

Ghana have twice before played at the World Cup following two successive appearances leaving coach Kwesi Appiah to task his players of the need to ensure a third straight campaign.

The Black Stars will begin the second round campaign for a place at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil on Friday when they play Lesotho in the Group D opener at the Baba Yara Stadium at 5:00pm local time (17:00 GMT).

Appiah appeared satisfied on Tuesday after watching two different sets of Black Stars teams beat two lower tier sides - 3-0 against State Envoys and handed Asokwa Deportivo a 4-0 defeat - in test matches in Kumasi.

But Appiah, who is plotting Ghana's campaign is not reading too much into past statistics as he tells his players to expect a tough qualifying.

“We are going into the match with all the seriousness it deserves and I have cautioned my players to stay focused,” Appiah said ahead of Friday's game with Basothos.

Ghana followed up their World Cup debut in 2006 with a quarter-final finish at the 2010 tournament.