Africa is seeking to surpass their previous performance and qualify beyond quarter-finals of the upcoming 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup tournament in Qatar this winter.
There has been an unmistakable glass ceiling over Africa at football World Cups.
In reaching the quarter-finals in the 1990 World Cup, Cameroon set a benchmark that has not been bettered yet. Senegal and Ghana also reached the last-eight, in 2002 and 2010 respectively, but the continent’s tale of the tape on the global stage has been one of relative underachievement.
In 2002, Senegal staked claims for the big prize beating reigning champions France and becoming the first African team to go through a World Cup group stage undefeated.
Papa Bouba Diop became in instant icon when he scored the opening goal of the 2002 FIFA #WorldCup as Senegal went on to shock France with a 1-0 win.
Catch this clash and many more from the tournament on SS13 (SA) & SS14 (ROA).
Stream on @DStv here too > https://t.co/Ezt5FIyyYt pic.twitter.com/x9C8MSNZI2
— SuperSport (@SuperSportTV) May 7, 2018
In 2010,the Black Stars of Ghana were the only one of six representatives to advance from the group stage in South Africa.
Morocco, Senegal, Cameroon, Tunisia and Ghana all booked their places at the global showpiece event, hoping to be the first from Africa to win the elusive trophy.
This year, Nigeria and Ivory Coast, both multiple African champions, will miss out in addition to Egypt and Algeria.
This will be the first time that each nation from the African continent will be coached by a citizen of the respective country.
Coach Aliou Cisse – who masterminded Senegal’s maiden Nations Cup triumph – still has work to do before their opening fixture in Qatar against the Netherlands, followed by Group A clashes with the hosts and Ecuador.
However, Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly has seen enough to convince him of a successful outing on the global stage, where the Senegalese were eliminated on a technicality last time out.
“We have the players capable of making Senegal proud and I think we can beat any team in the world,” said Koulibaly.
For a continent comprising 54 member nations, it only gets five slots, and that, too, only since 1998.
In comparison, Europe, with 55 eligible nations, gets 13, and South America, with only 10 nations, gets between four and five.
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