Between 1992 and 1995 Appiah served as the assistant coach for his former club Asante Kotoko including deputizing under
Malik Jabir. He was subsequently promoted to serve in the role of head coach from 1995 to 1996. He served as a coach as part of the technical team of
Fred Osam-Duodu when he served as Head coach of the Ghana national team from 2000 to 2001. and
Liverpool. James Kwesi Appiah was Ghana's assistant coach between 2007 and 2012 serving under
Claude Le Roy and
Milovan Rajevac. Appiah was coach of
Ghana U23 as they won the
2011 All-Africa Games. He was appointed as the Head coach of the
Ghana national team in April 2012, describing himself as "the underdog" in the process. His Ghana team qualified for the
2014 World Cup in Brazil, making him the first black African coach to take the country to the World Cup. He was given a new two-year contract in May 2014. After the country exited the World Cup in the group stages, Appiah defended his team. He left his position as Ghana manager by mutual consent in September 2014. He became manager of Sudanese club
Al Khartoum in December 2014. During his
first season, he led the team to a fourth place finish and qualification to the
Confederation Cup. The
following season, he led the club in attaining the highest points tally per season in the club's history, 65 points, however they did not qualify for the CAF Confederation Cup. In April 2017 he was re-appointed as the coach of the Ghana national team, replacing former
Chelsea manager
Avram Grant. He was sacked in January 2020. In July 2021, he was appointed as the head coach of
Kenpong Football Academy. In January 2023 he was linked with the manager's job at Tanzanian club
Simba SC. He also applied to become Ghana national team manager. In September 2023, Appiah became the head coach of the
Sudan national football team, whilst still working as Technical Director of Asante Kotoko in a joint role. He led the team to qualification to the
2025 Africa Cup of Nations. == Honours ==