Emmanuel Adebayor has disclosed that he played a direct and decisive role in convincing Marvin Senaya to commit his international future to Ghana rather than Togo, ending months of speculation over which of his eligible nations the AJ Auxerre defender would ultimately represent at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Senaya, born in France to a Togolese father and a Ghanaian mother, spent much of early 2026 at the centre of a quiet tug-of-war between the Ghana Football Association and the Togolese Football Federation, both of whom saw in him a rare, ready-made talent for the right-back position.
Speaking to 3Sports on 21 September 2026, Adebayor, who represented Togo across a long and storied international career explained that he was the one who ultimately tipped the scales in Ghana’s favour.
I was the one that made the decision for him, actually. I told him, ‘My friend, there is no other choice.’ Even with everything I have done or achieved in football, I had the chance to play only once in the World Cup.” Emmanuel Adebayor
According to Adebayor, his advice to Senaya was rooted less in national sentiment than in cold footballing logic. With Ghana having already secured qualification for the 2026 tournament and Togo not among the finalists, the calculus for a player weighing up his best route to the game’s biggest stage was, in his telling, straightforward.
This is the only chance you have. It’s not like you are going to play the qualifiers; the country has already qualified. So I think you don’t have a choice, you have to go, because this can be your major tournament in your lifetime.” Emmanuel Adebayor
The intervention proved timely. Senaya made his senior Black Stars debut in March 2026 in a friendly defeat to Austria under then-coach Otto Addo, before further impressing in a pre-tournament friendly against Wales.
By the time Carlos Queiroz named his final 26-man squad for North America, the 25-year-old had done enough to secure a place in Ghana’s World Cup plans.
Senaya himself has previously spoken of the weight of that decision, describing his choice of Ghana as one made in close consultation with his family rather than lightly.
His performances since have gone some way to validating both his own conviction and Adebayor’s counsel, a coincidence made sharper by the fact that Adebayor’s own international career unfolded entirely in Togo’s colours, never Ghana’s.