Let’s analyze the performance of the five national teams.

The World Cup has become an occasion to talk about where African football is going. The Moroccan national team has been in the spotlight and, perhaps, causes more discussion together with the Argentina championship. The Moroccans became the first Africans to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup. Historical event. After all, not only did the Moroccan team represent Africa in this tournament, but also Cameroon, Senegal, Ghana and Tunisia. How to evaluate the performance of the representatives of this continent in general?

Optimistic estimate

If you look at the situation more generally, we can firmly say about the progress of the African teams. All five participants from Africa won at least one game. This has never happened before. In addition to the fact that each African team until the last round of the group stage kept the chances of reaching the playoffs. That is, under favorable circumstances, all five teams could be in the round of 16.

For Tunisia and Cameroon, victories over France and Brazil, respectively, are among the biggest in their World Cup history. And Senegal’s two group wins place them, along with Morocco, in an elite club of seven African sides with at least six group points. world Cup.

In total, African teams have won nine matches world Cup-2022, more than double their previous record in a single tournament. Even excluding Morocco’s four wins, the rest of the African teams won five, more than Africa’s previous best record in the 2002 and 2010 tournaments.

Mixed performance

Seven victories were achieved in the group stage. Let’s take a closer look at them. The aforementioned victories of Tunisia and Cameroon, although they look impressive in the end, were won over France and Brazil, which changed the composition a lot, since they had already decided the issue of reaching the playoffs. Almost all the starting lineups have rested. At the same time, a victory is a victory, of course, even if Tunisia and Cameroon did not show any particular signs by which one could judge that they would beat the main teams of these opponents.

Let’s add here two victories of Senegal. They were defeated by Qatar and Ecuador, i.e. over the 51st and 46th teams in the world rankings – they are among the five weakest participants world Cup-2022.

Lost opportunities

While Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal and Tunisia have had their highlights and pride, each of these teams may have something to regret as they have had a chance to do even better. Much was expected of Senegal as they entered the tournament with Africa’s best team status and with powerful stars on their roster.

Sadio Mane’s injury has certainly conditioned the Senegalese’s prospects. But if they had held up against the Netherlands and Edouard Mendy hadn’t made any mistakes, they could have avoided a powerful England team in the round of 16. And there to gain a foothold for a more confident result in the playoffs. Will it be possible to keep a bright squad for the next World Cup? There was a good chance in Qatar.

Ghana may regret one of the most controversial refereeing decisions: a penalty for Salisa’s foul on Ronaldo. Defeat could have been avoided. However, the victory over South Korea gave the Ghanaians a chance to take matters into their own hands. And they lost in the battle with Uruguay, where André Ayew’s missed penalty left the side frustrated. The sanction did not work.

Tunisia did a great job holding Denmark and beating France. But between those matches, they lost to Australia, which is seven places in the table. fifa. Given the instability of the Australians and the level of support provided in Qatar to Tunisia, there was every chance to show a more convincing result.

Cameroon, by its tradition, could not do without scandals, which clearly spoiled the atmosphere in the team. But even with them, this team could reach the playoffs if they didn’t lose against Switzerland at all. Everything was nearby.

Africa scored a record number of points in Qatar, but only two teams qualified for the playoffs, like in 2014. And only one team reached the quarterfinals. As in 1990, 2002 and 2010. There has been no breakthrough in this regard.

Recipe for success

African countries now have a ready-made algorithm in front of their eyes, which allowed Morocco to make a breakthrough. Of course, it will not be so easy to repeat it, but at least it is clear in which direction the steps should go. Indeed, along the way, the Moroccans defeated European heavyweights Belgium, Spain and Portugal, they looked worthy with France.

The Moroccan national team is reaping the benefits of investing in local sports infrastructure, particularly in the football academy, in the top flight, considered one of the most interesting in Africa. The improvement of the working conditions of the trainers at all levels and a great attention to the technical support of the preparatory process play an important role.

Morocco also makes better use of its country’s large European diaspora. 14 out of 26 people in the Moroccan national team were born outside this country. The percentage is higher than that of any other World Cup participant. And these people became leaders, brought their honed qualities to European schools and championships.

Consequently, the ideal “product” in order to trust the internal system, invest in it, but at the same time use European experience, is the coach of the Moroccans Walid Regragi. He grew up in football in France, he took a lot from there. However, he associates himself fully with Morocco, he has managed to work a lot here, he is a local coach with a mixture of commitment to national interests and acceptance of the European experience. It is clear that Moroccans have been going there for more than a year, but hard and painstaking work always pays off.