“ There is a lot of quality in our national team,” Vozinha said.
“ Maybe for many of you, you think the( Cabo) Verdean player is not good enough. But we came here to show that we have a lot of quality, and we are here to compete, and our players can play everywhere in the big competition, in the big leagues.”
In 2018, only five African teams qualified for the FIFA World Cup tournament. None of those five African teams advanced beyond the group stage. This time nine of the 10 teams qualified to the Round of 32, setting a record for African representation and announcing to the world that its teams belonged on the same pitch( playing field) as any other team.
In fact, two teams – Morocco and Egypt – reached the Round of 16. No other FIFA confederation had a better World Cup than Africa. The Asian Football Confederation sent nine teams. Only two advanced to the Round of 32.
FIFA expanded the tournament field from 32 to 48 teams for the first time, creating space for confederations to add teams. Some observers questioned whether Africa deserved 10 teams. Then they watched Senegal score five goals against Iraq – the first African team to score that many goals in a World Cup.
Through its play this year, Africa proved it belonged in this competition and signaled that teams from the continent have a bright future in the World Cup.
Patrice Motsepe, the Confederation of African Football, made this clear in a statement that underscored the achievements of the African teams.“ Hard work and investments in youth football, coaching, professional leagues and infrastructure in each of the 54 CAF member associations is bearing fruit,” he said.“ I congratulate the nine CAF member association presidents and their executive committees and thank the African governments for their co-operation and support. CAF wishes the nine national teams everything of the best and we are confident they will continue to make their countries and Africa extremely proud.”
Tunisia, which earned a World Cup win over Mexico in 1978 and qualified seven times for the World Cup, wasn’ t so successful this time around, exiting the tournament without a victory at the close of the group phase. Yet where one African team struggled, the others did better on the international stage, determined to contend with the competition on the pitch – and the obstacles they encountered away from it.
Senegalese fans celebrating in the stands
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