The 2022 World Cup is not just about Argentina, the World Cup was a turning point for Africa

About a week ago, another draw of the final part of the World Cup ended in Qatar. The winner of the competition was the Argentine national team, which turned out to be more talented and more successful than the French in the decisive fight in the penalty shootout. Thanks to this, the leader of the “white-blue” Lionel Messi finally achieved the long-awaited world title, and now the rank of his legend will go off the scale in any rating, even decades later.

But there was more than one victory story at the 2022 World Cup. Alongside Argentina and Messi, the strong, organized and determined Moroccan team that made it to the semi-finals surpassed the “glass ceiling” that has existed for African teams in the history of world championships and should definitely be rewarded. compliment part.

And although Morocco did not manage to get into the top three, because in the “bronze” match the Africans lost to Croatia, the “Atlas Lions” proved to themselves and all the other teams on their continent that they can play. football is not worse than others, and you should not be afraid of Europeans, South Americans, or representatives of other confederations, and only self-confidence and the desire to maximize existing skills are important.

But Morocco wasn’t the only one who turned out to be strong in Africa at the tournament in Qatar. Each of the five teams that started the World Cup from this continent had at least one win. At the same time, Cameroon stunned Brazil (1:0), Tunisia managed to beat France (1:0) and Morocco literally eliminated Belgium in the group stage (2:0). Off the pitch, the Africans were also in the limelight, their fans eclipsing the rest with their tireless dancing, loud singing, and angry drum snarls whose sound made the opponents lose their nerves.

But the tournament in Qatar has become special for African teams for another interesting reason – for the first time, all five representatives of this continent played at the World Cup under the guidance of local experts. And while the latest situation can be taken as a coincidence, the contrast between the 2022 World Cup and the 2018 World Cup, in which only two of the five African teams were led by local managers, but none of them qualified for the playoffs, cannot be ignored. .

For a continent where association leaders have been accustomed to paying visiting experts hefty sums on short-term contracts for years, the current success of the Moroccan national team led by 47-year-old Walid Regraga could lead to serious worldview changes. If previously hiring a foreign coach was seen as something right and forward in Africa and there was a stereotype in the local football community that only an expat can achieve significant results in national teams, now the share will go to local mentors. Get the chance and opportunity to not only raise your level but also prove your class.

Already watching the style of play of the national teams of Morocco, Cameroon, Senegal and Tunisia at the 2022 World Cup, it can be concluded that the head coaches of these teams are well versed in modern methods of working with their wards. For example, the Cameroonians led by Rigobert Song managed to turn the tide of the ill-fated duel against Serbia, changing the tactical arrangement from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2, gaining a two-goal head back. start, finish the match 3:3.

Now that the tournament in Qatar is over, the main focus of African teams and fans will be on the next World Cup, which awaits us four years later, in 2026, to be held in the USA, Mexico and Canada. Africa will be able to transfer nine teams to this championship at once, and the representative of the confederation will challenge the tenth ticket in the intercontinental playoffs. The 2026 World Cup will increase the number of participants in the final stage from 32 to 48, giving African teams even more chances and opportunities to express themselves.

“Tournaments like the World Cup are very competitive and big, but I think Africa can make a big impact if things go well and players come to compete in great conditions. Instead of trying to make modest progress, Morocco has challenged other African countries by showing that they have a chance to compete for the cup. “This will change the face of African football and the teams from there forever,” said Philippe Troussier, 67, French coach, who has worked with five different African teams (Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, South Africa and Morocco).

In fact, it is not possible to talk about a uniform progress across the continent. For example, out of 23 coaching students who recently earned their first diploma from the Confederation of African Football, 20 came from Morocco. This shows that Atlas Lions’ success at the 2022 World Cup should not be called accidental. Above all, it has been possible thanks to structural and systematic work to improve the quality of infrastructure in the country and to improve the qualifications of local coaches, which has a positive impact on the development of football players.

“The excellent infrastructure provided by the Moroccan clubs and at the national level has allowed their national teams to achieve results. They have a great federation, one of the best football training centers in the world, a well-developed search for local talent and talent from the diaspora that is so important to Africa. The progress of the Moroccan national team in this regard is not accidental, it was planned and programmed, and part of the result is their success in Qatar, which they will try to build on,” says the 47-year-old former Bolton, Birmingham and Miron Muslich, who has achieved a coaching degree and has been at Cercle Brugge, Belgium since October. Southampton defender Radhi Zhaidi is the assistant of.

According to Zhaidi, there is another possible factor in Africa’s unprecedented success at the 2022 World Cup – this is the squad of national teams. More than 40% of the players who made the “picklists” of the five African teams competing in the Qatar World Cup were born outside the continent and this helped to make the situation better.

“Many of these players receive basic football training outside of Africa, namely in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, where they were born. They have been playing at a different level since childhood, learning from top experts and getting the opportunity to learn from top players. They also use all the technical and software innovations of modern football, and this progress enriches African football,” Troussier agrees.

The Frenchman, however, is confident that it is impossible to achieve success alone in repatriates, so it is extremely important for Africa to understand why the Moroccan team has been so successful at the 2022 World Cup. Atlas Lions has a lot to learn, not only in terms of personnel and tactical operation, but also operational decisions.

Now the main issue for Africa is to get rid of the chaotic decisions that are very damaging to the development of football and even causing boredom. Only clearly structured and planned work can help the team from this continent surpass the success of the Moroccan team at the 2026 World Cup. Does anyone believe this? All right, let me. After all, on the eve of the 2022 World Cup, few believed that any team from Africa had a chance to reach the semi-finals, and this happened …