Meet the five teams vying to change Africa’s World Cup narrative in Qatar
THE 2022 FIFA World Cup begins in six days, on November 20th, in Qatar.
Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon, Morocco, and Tunisia are Africa’s five representatives in the world’s premier football competition. The continent’s teams qualified after a lengthy preparation period that included a preliminary knockout phase followed by a four-team round robin competition played at home and away.
There has never been an African team in the World Cup semifinals. Many experts believe that the time has come to change Africa’s World Cup story. The continent has always promised a lot but delivered very little in the international spotlight.
Poor preparation, internal conflict, technical and tactical errors are some of the reasons why African teams fail to qualify for the World Cup semifinals.
Senegal and Morocco have a good chance of qualifying for the second round and possibly beyond, based on the pedigree of the African teams and their respective opponents.
A closer look at Africa’s five teams follows
Senegal is the current African champion and the betting favourite to advance further in the World Cup. The Aliou Cissecoached team will be hoping to replicate their heroics from the 2002 World Cup. Senegal’s main concern is the injury to star player Sadio Mane of Batern Munuch, who was injured last week but still made the trip to Qatar. This will be the African nation’s third World Cup, and they will face favourites Netherlands, Qatar, and Ecuador in Group A. On paper, the Teranga Lions appear to have a good chance of qualifying from their group. Mane is one of the standout names in coach Aliou Cisse’s 26-man squad, which also includes Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, defender Kalidou Koulibaly, and Everton’s Idrissa Gana Gueye.
Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions will compete in their eighth World Cup finals in
Qatar. Following their legendary performance in Italia 90, the Samuel Eto’o FA-managed national team has struggled to achieve success in recent editions, failing to advance past the group stage in each of the last five competitions.
The five-time African champions are still hoping to emulate Roger Milla and company’s memorable run in Italy in 1990. Cameroon made it to the quarter-finals back then. Will this generation finally catch up to their forefathers, or
will it be another group stage exit? Eto’o is upbeat and has predicted that Cameroon and Morocco will be World Cup finalists this year. The Lions’ group this time includes Switzerland, Serbia, and Brazil. Cameroon may not have a large number of established players, but it does have some toplevel talent, including Napoli’s Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, Inter Milan’s Andreas Onana, and Bayern Munich striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. With determination, they can finish second to Brazil, but they will face Serbia.
Tunisia’s new manager, Jalal Qaderi, took over in January after Mondher Kebaier was fired following a disappointing performance at the Africa Cup of Nations. Tunisia will compete in their sixth World Cup, but they have never advanced past the group stage. Will this tournament be the last of their disappointments? Denmark, Australia, and France are ahead of them. Their recent 5-1 friendly loss to Brazil was the new coach’s first defeat, but the team is in good shape, with a mix of experience and youth.
Captain Youssef Mskani, who plays in the Qatar Stars League, is the team’s key player and star. Much will be riding on him; if he stays healthy, Tunisia will have a chance to compete for every point against defending champion France, Denmark, and Australia.
Morocco is regarded as one of the strongest teams on the African continent, and they will have plenty of star power in Qatar 2022, where they will compete for the sixth time.
Much will be expected of PSG full-back Achraf Hakimi, but he should be well supported by the likes of Sofaine Boufal and Ayoub Al Kaabi. They are in Group F with tough opponents such as Croatia, led by Luka Modric, Belgium, and worldclass midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, as well as Canada. The Atlas Lions will face a difficult test, but nothing is impossible.
The Black Stars of Ghana are the lowest ranked (61st) of the 32 nations in the World Cup, and it is unlikely that they will repeat their heroics from the 2010 World Cup run to the quarter-finals. But one thing is certain: following Ghana’s controversial exit on penalties, they will have a chance to face Luiz Suarez and Uruguay in a grudge match.
Their next games are against former European champions Portugal and Asian powerhouse South Korea. Ghana will rely on captain Andre Ayew of Qatar’s Al Sadd club, Arsenal’s Thomas Partey, Espanyol’s Inaki Williams, and Ajax Amsterdam’s Mohammed Kudus.