Africa in the 2022 World Cup: A quick performance review
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Sofyan Amrabat, Morocco’s defensive midfielder, and Marco Asensio, the right winger of Spain, in action during their FIFA World Cup 2022 Round of 16 match between Morocco and Spain at Education City Stadium on December 6, 2022, in Al Rayyan, Qatar.
Five teams represented Africa in the just concluded 2022 World Cup, the first to ever be held in the Middle East. And for the first time in the competition, all the five African teams, namely Senegal, Morocco, Ghana, Cameroon, and Tunisia, were headed by local coaches.
Here’s a quick review of their performances during the competition in Qatar.
Senegal
Just ahead the competition’s kick-off, Senegal was dealt a massive blow after their ‘talisman’, Sadio Mane, the 2022 African Footballer of the Year and the runners-up in the 2022 Ballon d’Or, got injured and was ruled out of playing.
His injury meant Aliou Cisse, the head coach, had to review his game strategy in the final stages of their preparation. He may not have had a replacement of the calibre of Mane, but he had Ismail Sarr, Bouba Día and Ndiaye, who were tasked with the finishing job. Thankfully, the team advanced to the round of 16 after defeating Ecuador in the final group game.
But other critical players had dropped off as the competition progressed. For instance, centre back/central midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate had gotten injured in the opening match, and Idris Gana Guaye, a defensive midfielder, had been suspended from playing after picking up two yellow cards, making him miss the round of 16 game against England. Senegal failed to advance.
Generally, therefore, The Lions of Teranga, who are also the African champions, somehow lacked an adequate squad depth to make them a serious threat in the competition this time round.
Ghana
Ghana had qualified for the competition with away goals win over Nigeria during the World Cup playoffs.
Ghana’s squad featured the youngest average age – about 25. Despite finishing bottom of their group, they played some fantastic football. The future looks bright for this West African giant. The team featured some impressively skilled players like Mohmmed Salisu, Mohammed Kudus, and Thomas Partey.
After losing against Uruguay in the final group match, the head coach Otto Oddo, said: “Football is beautiful. Sometimes it is ugly. It was ugly for us today. I’m very sure we will learn from this.” The statement suggested that Ghana is keen on bettering their performance in the next competition.
Cameroon
Cameroon – the Indomitable Lions – came to the 2022 World Cup with former central defender Rigobert Song as the head coach. The squad featured some very skilled players like Frank Zambo Angussa, Vincent Abubakar, Erick Choupo Moting, Toko Ekambi, and several others who play professional football for big clubs in Europe.
They had a good run in the tournament, even beating the most decorated World Cup team, Brazil, in a thrilling final group game. However, they failed to qualify for the round of 16.
Tunisia
Tunisia were grouped with the 2018 champions France, plus Australia and Denmark – a tough group. They finished third but recorded a not-to-forget win against France – the defending champions – in their last group game.
Morocco
Morocco proved to be most organised among the African teams. They too were drawn in one of the toughest groups, featuring European football giants like Croatia and Belgium. But they surprised many after topping the group, and only conceding one own goal in the group stage.
Their inspirational coach, Walid Regragui, later said that the first African title in the World Cup competition could be less than two decades away.
Morocco applied a defensive style of play with surprise counter-attacks that worked well for them throughout the competition, making them the first African country to ever reach the World Cup semi-finals.
They played as a well-knit unit, defending together, and attacking together.
Some of their key players in the tournament were their goalkeeper Yassine Bounou (popular as Bono), who plays in La Liga; Roman Saiss, the captain and central defender; Achraf Hakim, the PSG right back; Sofyan Amrabat, who anchored the midfield; and the attacking midfielder and winger Hakim Ziyech, who plies his professional trade in the English Premier League side, Chelsea.
Morocco played defending champions France in a thrilling semi-final match, and bowed out of the competition at this stage with pride.
Generally, African teams showed improvement in this world tournament. Who knows? Perhaps things could turn out better for more African teams next time.
