African countries have been competing in the World Cup since 1934 (Egypt withdrew in 1930 after losing their connecting ship to Uruguay as a result of a storm) and have made a total of 49 appearances in the competition.
Those apparitions have been made up of 13 different countries, from Morocco, Tunisia and the aforementioned Egypt in the north to South Africa in the far south of the continent.
the athletic Take a look at Africa’s rich World Cup history and how each of these teams have fared.
- 1934: Egypt,
- 1970: Morocco,
- 1974: Zaire,
- 1978: Tunisia,
- 1982: Algeria and Cameroon,
- 1986: Algeria,
- 1990: Egypt,
- 1994: Cameroon and Morocco,
- 1998: Cameroon, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia,
- 2002: Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa and Tunisia,
- 2006: Angola, Ivory Coast, Togo and Tunisia,
- 2010: Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and South Africa,
- 2014: Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Ghana,
- 2018: Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia,
- 2022: Cameroon, Ghana and Tunisia
Egypt was the first team from Africa to play in the World Cup, losing 4-2 to Hungary in the first round in Italy in 1934. Including their elimination, African teams have lost in the first round 38 times.
However, even when African teams have withdrawn early, it has rarely been without incident. Some notable highlights have been Zaire allegedly ignoring the rules for a free kick in 1974, Roger Milla dancing next to the corner flag in 1990, and South African Siphiwe Tshabalala’s opening goal in the 2010 tournament, the only one to be held in Africa. , resulting in a continent bursting with joy.
At this World Cup, Tunisia secured a famous victory over defending champions France and Ghana avenged their agonizing exit in 2010 by helping eliminate Uruguay.
- 1986: Morocco,
- 1994: Nigeria,
- 1998: Nigeria,
- 2006: Ghana,
- 2014: Nigeria and Algeria,
- 2022: Senegal
African countries have been knocked out in the second round of the World Cup seven times.
Morocco in 1986 became the first team from the continent to pass the first round and Nigeria was the first team to do so twice in 1998.
Morocco topped their group in 1986, ahead of England, Poland and Portugal. They beat the Portuguese 3-1 in their last group game, the only time they had beaten them before Saturday in Qatar.
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The North African side then lost 1–0 to eventual finalists West Germany in the round of 16, with an 88th-minute goal from Lothar Matthaus sending them home from Mexico.
Algeria also faced Germany in the round of 16 in 2014. They took the eventual winners into extra time and the world was treated to 30 minutes of gripping drama that saw three goals scored and the Germans win 2-1. Algerians were greeted as heroes upon their return home.
Senegal were the only African team in Qatar to go out in the round of 16, losing 3-0 to a ruthless England team.
- 1990: Cameroon,
- 2002: Senegal,
- 2010: Ghana
Three African teams have been eliminated in the quarterfinals of the World Cup and all have done so painfully.
Cameroon became the first African team to reach the quarter-finals in Italy in 1990. They stunned defending champions Argentina in the tournament’s opening match at the San Siro and that momentum saw them go on to top a group that also included Romania and the Soviet Union.
They then beat Colombia 2-1 after extra time in the round of 16, with the 38-year-old Milla scoring a brace to sink the South Americans. With the continent in dreamland, the Indomitable Lions faced England in the quarter-final.
David Platt scored for England in the first half, before Emmanuel Kunde equalized from the penalty spot after 61 minutes. Four minutes later, Eugene Ekeke gave Cameroon the lead and the world was 25 minutes behind an African top semi-finalist.
However, Gary Lineker equalized from the penalty spot and then won in extra time with another penalty.
Cameroon was out, but had conquered a continent on the journey of a lifetime.
Senegal followed in Cameroon’s footsteps in 2002 in South Korea and Japan, in more ways than one. They beat the defending champions (France) in the opening game of the tournament on their way to qualifying for the round of 16.
They played Sweden in the round of 16 and, as with Cameroon, the game went to extra time. Henri Camara scored a golden goal in the 104th minute to send the West Africans through to the quarter-finals.
In the round of 16 they were defeated by a golden goal from Turkey, but left the Far East with many hearts won.
Ghana in 2010 came even closer to the semi-finals than their two predecessors. They were the only African team to get out of the groups that year, and just like Cameroon and Senegal, their round of 16 match went to extra time, with Asamoah Gyan scoring the game-winner against the USA.
In the quarter-final against Uruguay, with the score tied 1-1 at the 120th minute, Luis Suárez deliberately touched the ball on the line to deny Ghana a goal. He was sent off but Gyan, under unbearable pressure, hit the crossbar of the resulting penalty and set Uruguay free.
The South Americans won the penalty shootout and Ghana was left out, much to the dismay of all the neutrals.
2022: Morocco
Morocco became the first African team to reach the World Cup semifinals on Saturday after a controlled win over Portugal. They topped their group in Qatar (ahead of Croatia, Belgium and Canada) and then beat former world champions Spain on penalties in the round of 16.
Morocco have conceded only once at this World Cup: a Nayef Aguerd own goal against Canada.
The North Africans take on France on Wednesday and will back each other to go all the way now after surviving against so many heavyweights.
This article originally appeared on The Athletic.
