Since Egypt’s participation in the 1934 World Cup, 13 different African nations have competed in the biggest tournament in international football.
As the years have gone by, and Africa (CAF) was given more qualifying slots for the final tournament, the world has been dazzled by some of the most exciting and entertaining football produced by African countries.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar is set to be no different, with five countries from across the continent set to compete in the World Cup.
The Sporting News looks at the African teams at this edition of the tournament, and the best African teams to have played at past World Cups.
African teams in World Cup 2022
Morocco have been the most impressive African side so far in Qatar with four points from two games played.
Walid Regragui’s side secured a battling 0-0 draw with Croatia in their opening game before storming past Belgium in their second match, to put them on the brink of a potential first last-16 spot since 1986.
Senegal bounced back from the pre-tournament setback of losing star man Sadio Mane to injury following an initial call up for the Bayern Munich attacker.
Aliou Cisse’s team slipped to a 2-0 defeat to the Netherlands in their opening fixture, but after knocking out hosts Qatar, they can now reach the knockouts with a win over Ecuador on November 29.
Tunisia face a tough ask in Group D, despite holding Denmark to a 0-0 draw, as they followed that up with a 1-0 loss against Australia, and will need to beat holders France to stand a chance of qualifying.
Ghana and Cameroon are both pointless after one game each, after missing out on the 2018 World Cup, with the Black Stars still to face South Korea and Uruguay, and the Indomitable Lions up against Serbia and Brazil in the coming days.
Medhi Benatia Morocco 2018
Can the African teams win the World Cup?
Odds via BetMGM (USA – November 27) and Sports Interaction (Canada – November 20).
Whilst all of the African sides at this tournament possess the quality to trouble even the strongest teams, they are all considered outsiders to go all the way and win the World Cup in Qatar.
Senegal are the team given the best chance of winning, sitting at +10000/76.30. Morocco are rated as a +10000/123.00 chance of winning the tournament, with Ghana sitting at +35000/156.00.
Cameroon are even heavier outsiders, ranked as a +50000/211.00, whilst Tunisia are one of the most unlikely teams to win the tournament with their odds currently set at +75000/304.00
It is evident that bookmakers have little faith in an African team shocking the world and winning the World Cup for the first time.
MORE: Complete betting odds guide World Cup 2022
How the African teams qualified to World Cup 2022
The African qualifiers feature a first round for smaller nations, where the winners progress to a group stage. At the end of the group stage, the winners of each group are drawn against another country in a two-legged tie to decide who goes to the World Cup.
Morocco won their tie comfortably, defeating DR Congo 5-2 on aggregate, whilst Tunisia’s 1-0 win in the first leg was enough to help them see off Mali.
The other three teams had to fight off fellow continental heavyweights in sometimes dramatic circumstances. Ghana saw off Nigeria by a single goal, whilst Senegal and Egypt’s tie, went to penalties, where Mane scored the winning penalty to secure qualification.
The most drama was experienced in Algeria, where the home side thought they secured qualification with a goal in the 118th minute, before Karl Toko-Ekambi scored in the fourth minute of added-time to send the Indomitable Lions through at the expense of the likes of Riyad Mahrez.
African World Cup team FIFA rankings
The highest ranked African side at the 2022 World Cup is Senegal, who currently sit in 18th, four places in front of Morocco in 22nd.
Tunisia are the 30th ranked side in the world, having risen from 36 at the start of 2022.
Cameroon are currently sitting in rank number 43, falling five places from the previous rankings.
And finally Ghana are the lowest ranked team at the 2022 World Cup, currently sitting in 61st. They are also the 11th highest ranked team in Africa.
Best African teams in World Cup history before 2022
Whilst no African teams have ever won or made a World Cup final, three teams have made the quarter-finals.
Cameroon were the first to do so in 1990, when led by Roger Milla they defeated world champions Argentina in the opening game before qualifying for the round of 16 with a negative goal difference. They defeated Colombia in the first knockout round before losing to England.
Debutants Senegal shocked the world when they not only defeated world champions France in the opening match of the 2002 edition, they then went on to top their group. They then defeated Sweden thanks to a golden goal, before Turkey bundled them out with a golden goal of their own.
Ghana then repeated the feat after defeating the USA in the round of 16 in South Africa. This pitted them against Uruguay in the quarterfinals when one of the most controversial World Cup moments occurred.
With the scores locked at 1-1 near the end of extra time, Uruguay’s Luis Suarez used his hands to deny a certain goal on the line, only for Asamoah Gyan to miss the resulting penalty that would have put them in the semifinal. Ghana crumpled in the resulting penalty shootout, losing 4-2.
