When will Africa win the World Cup?

Africa world cup History

Egypt, the bedrock of civilization in Africa and the world, were the first African team to feature in the World Cup. The team made their appearance in 1934 suffering a 4-2 loss to Hungary in Naples. The Egyptian team was followed by twelve more African teams in succeeding years with Cameroon having the highest number of appearances (7). However,  the furthest an African country has reached in the World Cup is the quarter-finals, with Cameroon, Ghana, and Senegal being the achievers of this feat.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF AFRICAN TEAMS IN THE WORLD CUP

Several memorable monuments have been created by African teams at the FIFA World Cup since 1934. which includes:

• Tunisia in Argentina 1978

Tunisia clinched the solitary spot for African teams upsetting the likes of Algeria, Morocco, Egypt and Nigeria. The Algeria national team was so good that in their opening game, they overturned a one-goal lead to beat Mexico 3-1 recording Africa’s first victory in a World Cup match.

• Tunisia in Spain 1982

it was so funny because one of the West German players boasted ahead of their group opener against Tunisia that “We will dedicate our seventh goal to our wives and the eighth to our dogs”. The European giants were later bamboozled by scintillating one-touch football from the Eagles of Carthage led by star players Rabah Madjer and Lakhdar Belloumi inspiring them to a 2-1 victory.

• Cameroon in the USA 1994

Cameroon was another African team that surprised the world at the world cup. The Cameroon national team the world by defeating defending Champions Argentina 1-0 in the opening match of the competition.

The winning birthed the iconic celebration by Roger Milla, a substitute who had to be persuaded out of retirement to feature in the tournament. The 38-year-old scored the goal that secured the Indomitable Lion’s place in the quarter-finals.

• Nigeria in the USA 1994

 

Another African team that surprised the globe at the world cup is the Super Eagles of Nigeria. The Nigeria national team made their maiden appearance in the World Cup by beating the Bulgaria national team Three goals to nothing. However, the Nigerians were eliminated by Italy in the Round of 16 in an extra-time loss.

• Senegal in France 1998

Les Bleus who is also known as the French was stunned by a Senegalese team comprised of players in the French lower division and Africa. They couldn’t handle El Hadji Diouf with Papa Boupa Diop got their lone goal with the Bruno Metsu-coached team going as far as the quarter-finals.

• South Africa in 2010

South Africa was involved in the 2010 version of the tournament by being the hosts giving rise to underwhelming expectations in terms of predicted performance. Siphiwe Tshabalala netted a great strike to secure the only goal of the game against Mexico.

LIMITATIONS OF AFRICAN TEAMS IN THE WORLD CUP

• WEAKNESS OF LOCAL LEAGUES

It is no coincidence that the most successful teams in world football (national) have the most successful leagues (domestic). The Bundesliga of Germany, La Liga Santander of Spain, Premier League of England, Serie A of Italy, Ligue 1 of France, etc. Global viewership coupled with years of relatively sound administration as well as financial clout has made these leagues grow from strength to strength granting indigenous players the environment to reach their potential. African leagues largely plagued by maladministration, embezzlement of funds and low viewership contribute to the low quality of the local leagues which affects the national teams.

• TALENT DRAIN

Scouts from the aforementioned top leagues globally raid grassroots teams in Africa and hijack the best talents, thereby strengthening their leagues and weakening the African leagues. Some even operate academies in these African countries taking advantage of the natural athleticism Africans possess.

Also, Checking some of the elite national teams in the world you will find out that the majority of their players have African origin, a good example is France’s and England’s National teams. these players are influenced by playing for their African teams. although some of their reasons are coupled with the corrupt practices of African national team bodies.

• WORLD CUP SLOTS

This is not unique to African countries as South American teams have 4/5 slots, the same as Asian teams but when compared to Europe’s allocation of 13 slots, it comes as no surprise that European teams historically have a higher chance of success in the competition. A caveat to this is that slots are allocated based on a coefficient method that takes previous performance into account to ensure the tournament doesn’t lose its competitive edge.

• FOOTBALL ADMINISTRATION

on a league level and a national team level, nepotism, bribery, incompetence and other organizational vices greatly hamper African teams from maximizing their resources in terms of finances and personnel to make a substantial impact on a global scale. FIFA has developed measures to limit the interference of government organisations in football administration but this can have a net negative rather than positive impact as FIFA itself has been bedevilled by accusations of the very vices it purports to nip in the bud.

• FOREIGN BIAS

In the selection of players for these competitions, a typical African team would rather use a foreign player who may not feature as prominently in his team as a player in a domestic league irrespective of how outstanding the player appears to be. This seeming bias for “shiny toys” may result in actual player quality being sacrificed. This goes beyond player selection as far as coach selection with mediocre foreign coaches being employed in many instances.

• COACHING AND TECHNICALITIES

Grassroots football coaching, especially in the formative years for the majority of African players, is inferior to that of their counterparts in more recognized footballing countries putting them at a disadvantage from the onset.

WAY FORWARD

Many factors contribute to a team’s success or failure in a World Cup campaign that transcends team quality. It could be the luck of the draw, favourable weather conditions, team spirit, etc. Some of these cannot be as easily influenced as others. The gulf between the so-called super teams and the lesser teams is shrinking as the talent gap and administration gap gradually reduces. It seems the time is near when an outlier will clinch the global footballing prize and why not an African team? If African teams can get the basics of planning, financing and talent development as well as recruit qualified personnel for sensitive positions, there is no reason why an African team cannot win the World Cup. Who knows, the time may be now.