About 13 different African countries have participated in the largest football competition since Egypt’s appearance in the 1934 World Cup.
The globe has been awed by some of the most thrilling and entertaining football created by African nations as the years have passed and Africa (CAF) has been allocated more qualifying berths for the final event.
With five nations from across the continent competing, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will follow suit.
Jambo Daily examines the African teams competing in this event as well as the top African teams from previous World Cups.
African Countries in World Cup 2022
Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia are the five African countries that will try to end the continent’s curse of never making it past the quarterfinals in the World Cup. At the Italy 1990 World Cup, Cameroon was the first nation from Africa to set the quarterfinal ceiling.
With four points from two games, Morocco has been the most impressive African team in Qatar thus far.
Read List of Africa’s Top Goals Scorers of All Times
Walid Regragui’s team battled to a 0-0 draw with Croatia in their initial match before overwhelming Belgium in their follow-up game to put themselves in a position to potentially qualify for the last 16 since 1986.
After a first call-up for the Bayern Munich attacker, Senegal overcame the pre-tournament blow of losing top player Sadio Mane to injury.
The team of Aliou Cisse lost to the Netherlands 2-0 in their opening match. Still, after eliminating the hosts Qatar, they now have a chance to advance to the knockout rounds with a victory over Ecuador on November 29.
Despite holding Denmark to a 0-0 draw, Tunisia faces a difficult task in Group D because they lost 1-0 to Australia after that and will need to defeat the defending champions France to have a chance of making it out of the group.
After one game each, Ghana and Cameroon have no points after being eliminated from the 2018 World Cup. The Black Stars still have games against South Korea and Uruguay, while the Indomitable Lions have games against Serbia and Brazil coming ahead.
Can the African teams win the World Cup?
All of the African countries competing in this tournament have what it takes to challenge even the best teams, but they are all viewed as outsiders to win the World Cup in Qatar.
With odds of +10000/76.30, Senegal is the side with the best chance of winning. Ghana is projected as having a +35000/156.00 chance of winning the event, while Morocco is given a +10000/123.00 chance.
Read List of Top Coaches in Africa
The odds against Cameroon winning the tournament are +50000/211.00, while the odds against Tunisia winning the tournament are +75000/304.00, making them one of the least probable teams to do so.
It’s clear that oddsmakers don’t have much faith in an African team to win the World Cup for the first time and shock the world.
How the African Countries qualified for World Cup 2022
Smaller nations compete in a first-round during the African qualifications, and the victor advances to a group stage. The group stage concludes with a two-legged matchup between the group champions to determine who advances to the World Cup.
Morocco easily won their match, defeating DR Congo 5-2 overall, and Tunisia defeated Mali with a 1-0 victory in the first leg.
The other three teams faced up against other continental heavyweights in occasionally dramatic situations. Ghana defeated Nigeria with a single goal, while Senegal and Egypt’s match went to penalties where Mane converted the win to ensure their place in the tournament.
The match in Algeria that featured the most drama ended with Karl Toko-Ekambi scoring in the fourth minute of extra time to send the Indomitable Lions through at the expense of players like Riyad Mahrez. The home team had thought they had qualified with a goal in the 118th minute.
African World Cup team FIFA rankings
FIFA has ranked African countries at the world cup in the following order:
Senegal, which is four positions ahead of Morocco in 22nd place and the highest-ranked African team at the 2022 World Cup, is now in position 18.
Tunisia is currently rated 30th in the world, up from 36 at the beginning of 2022.
Read Top National Football Teams in Africa
The current position of Cameroon, which has dropped five spots from the previous rankings, is number 43.
The lowest-ranked team at the 2022 World Cup is Ghana, which is presently placed 61st. They are also Africa’s No. 11-ranked squad overall.
Best African Countries in World Cup history before 2022
While none among the African Countries has ever won the World Cup or advanced past the semifinals, three teams have made the quarter-finals.
The first team to accomplish so was Cameroon, who, under the leadership of Roger Milla, upset Argentina in the tournament’s opening match to go to the round of 16 with a poor goal differential. Before falling to England, they defeated Colombia in the opening round of the knockout stage.
Debutants In the opening game of the 2002 edition, Senegal astonished the world by not only defeating the defending champions France but also by winning their group. Then, after defeating Sweden with the help of a golden goal, Turkey eliminated them with a similar goal.
After defeating the USA in the round of 16 in South Africa, Ghana then accomplished the feat once more. This placed them in the quarterfinals against Uruguay, where one of the most contentious World Cup events occurred.
Luis Suarez of Uruguay used his hands to block a certain goal with the scores tied at 1-1 near the end of extra time, but Asamoah Gyan missed the ensuing penalty that would have advanced them to the semifinal. In the ensuing penalty shootout, Ghana failed miserably, dropping 4-2.
