{"id":83586,"date":"2022-10-21T06:13:38","date_gmt":"2022-10-21T06:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theoutlier.co.za\/?p=83586"},"modified":"2025-11-17T17:42:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T17:42:43","slug":"world-cup-2022-what-are-africas-chances-in-qatar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/2022\/10\/21\/world-cup-2022-what-are-africas-chances-in-qatar\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup 2022: What are Africa\u2019s chances in Qatar?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Even though football is undeniably Africa\u2019s most popular sport, with some of the world\u2019s best talent coming from the continent, it has not yet left a significant mark at the prestigious stage in world football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2022 FIFA World Cup, hosted by Qatar, is just one month away.  The 32 qualifying national teams, from six continental zones, will take part in the 64-match spectacle from 20 November to 18 December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only two of the participating continental zones \u2013 Europe and South America \u2013 boast world cup winners. Brazil, currently ranked first in the FIFA Men\u2019s Rankings<\/a>, is the most successful country in the history of the tournament, winning it five times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The furthest that Africa has gone is the quarter-finals: Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in 2002, and Ghana in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five African-born players have won the world cup since its inception in 1930. Libya-born Claudio Gentile won the world cup with Italy in 1982. Ghana-born Marcel Desailly and Senegal-born Patrick Vieira won the tournament with France in 1998. Lastly, DR Congo-born Steve Mandanda and Cameroon-born Samuel Umtiti also won the world cup with France in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

World Cup Spots<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Europe, the world\u2019s biggest football stronghold, is the most represented continent at this year\u2019s world cup, with 13 spots \u2013 compared to Africa\u2019s five \u2013 even though the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has just one more member country than the Confederation of African Football (CAF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, only a few African countries, less than half of CAF\u2019s 54 member countries, have ever been to the world cup in the competition\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For each world cup, FIFA decides on the number of spots allocated to each continental zone, based on their numbers and the relative strengths of their national teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hosts of the competition and the immediate past tournament winner receive automatic qualification, while the rest of the countries play qualifying matches held by their respective continental zone\u2019s confederation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In total, there are just 13 African countries that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup. Of the 41 countries that are yet to qualify for the competition, former Africa Cup of Nations<\/a> (Afcon) champions Zambia, has the highest number of qualifying attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Africa\u2019s hopes at Qatar 2022<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Africa will be represented by Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia at Qatar 2022. This year will mark Cameroon\u2019s eighth appearance at the tournament, which is more than any African country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The national teams that are representing Africa at the world cup have a fair amount of talent, with squads that are built around players who are considered the backbone of some of the world\u2019s leading football clubs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If their current form is anything to go by, current Afcon champions and Africa\u2019s men\u2019s national team of the year<\/a> Senegal, are the continent\u2019s best shot at progressing the furthest in the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team, coached by Africa\u2019s men\u2019s coach of the year Aliou Ciss\u00e9, is Africa\u2019s highest-ranking team, currently sitting at number 18 in the FIFA Men\u2019s Rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their star-studded squad is made up of the likes of Bayern Munich forward and Africa\u2019s footballer of the year Sadio Man\u00e9, Chelsea goalkeeper and 2021 Afcon goalkeeper of the tournament \u00c9douard Mendy, Chelsea defender and Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly, as well as Leicester City midfielder Nampalys Mendy, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have been drawn in Group A alongside hosts Qatar, Ecuador, and the Netherlands. Netherlands is the only Group A team that currently ranks higher than Senegal in the FIFA Men\u2019s Rankings, at number eight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other African players to look out for<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lyon forward Karl Toko Ekambi \u2013 who scored five goals at the 2021 Afcon, Napoli midfielder Andr\u00e9-Frank Anguissa, and Inter Milan goalkeeper Andr\u00e9 Onana, will be instrumental for Cameroon. The 2021 Afcon bronze medalists have been drawn in Group G with Switzerland, Serbia, and Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
From left to right: Cameroon\u2019s Vincent Aboubakar, Senegal\u2019s Sadio Man\u00e9, and Senegal\u2019s \u00c9douard Mendy at the 2021 Afcon. Photo: CAF (@CAF_Online) via Twitter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr striker Vincent Aboubakar could continue his fine form, which helped him clinch the 2021 Afcon golden boot award, after scoring eight goals in the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Ghana \u2013 which has been drawn in Group H with Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay \u2013 had a shambolic display at the 2021 Afcon, the team has exciting prospects such as Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey, Rennes midfielder Kamaldeen Sulemana, and new addition Tariq Lamptey, who plays for Brighton & Hove Albion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lamptey, who was born in England to Ghanian parents, has been a youth international at various levels of the English national team. The 22-year old defender changed his allegiance to the Ghanaian national team this year, making his official debut for the team in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Morrocan team, which was knocked out by Egypt at the 2021 Afcon quarter-finals, consists of key players such as Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi and Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat. Morocco has been drawn in Group F alongside Croatia, Belgium and Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, the return of Chelsea midfielder Hakim Ziyech, who rescinded his retirement from national team duty in September, is another strong addition for the North African team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Tunisia, their team includes 2021 FIFA Club World Cup bronze medalist and African team of the decade Al Ahly defender Ali Ma\u00e2loul, Bundesliga club 1. FC K\u00f6ln midfielder Ellyes Skhiri, and 19-year old Birmingham City midfielder Hannibal Mejbri \u2013 a product of Manchester United.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tunisia has been drawn in Group D alongside Denmark, Australia and defending champions, France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Africa to reach a new continental best, at the FIFA World Cup, the qualifying teams will have to aim for the semi-finals, or beyond in Qatar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa could reach new heights at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, with some of Europe\u2019s club football high flyers making up the core of the qualifying teams from the continent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":83595,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446,9,1387],"tags":[205,62,206,207,208,209,210,211,54,212,213,214,215,216,56,217,218],"newsletter-post":[],"site":[],"class_list":["post-83586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-sports","category-the-outlier","tag-achraf-hakimi","tag-afcon","tag-andre-onana","tag-andre-frank-anguissa","tag-cad","tag-edouard-mendy","tag-fifa","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-football","tag-hakim-ziyech","tag-kalidou-koulibaly","tag-karl-toko-ekambi","tag-qatar-2022","tag-sadio-mane","tag-soccer","tag-tariq-lamptey","tag-thomas-partey"],"acf":{"big_number":null,"big_number_caption":null,"big_number_link":null,"big_number_background":null,"big_number_text_colour":null,"big_number_icon":null,"big_number_wide":null,"featured_chart":null,"flourish_chart_id":null,"flourish_sub_title":null,"flourish_chart_width":null,"is_newsletter_post":null,"post_style":null,"show_on_front":null,"link_through":null,"chart_url":null,"background_colour":null,"text_colour":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83586"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86594,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83586\/revisions\/86594"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83586"},{"taxonomy":"newsletter-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsletter-post?post=83586"},{"taxonomy":"site","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/site?post=83586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}