This international break represented an opportunity for Africa’s FIFA World Cup-bound quintet to finalise their preparations for the tournament in Qatar and lay down a blueprint for progression to the knockout stages.
But Africa’s five qualifiers endured a gruelling week, winning four of their 10 combined matches — only one against an opponent ranked inside FIFA’s top 80 — and each was left with clear issues that require attention before the global showpiece.
Indeed, for Ghana, Senegal and Cameroon, the optimism that greeted their group-stage draw earlier in the year has been replaced by hard-nosed realism, and the prospect of another miserable performance for Africa’s sides at the tournament cannot be ignored.
Despite some glorious efforts by African teams in the past, the continent’s recent record at the tournament has been poor.
Only at Brazil 2014 did more than one side feature in knockout stages, and Russia 2018 was the continent’s worst combined performance yet — as none of the five qualifiers progressed out of the groups.
African teams have won only 10 of their past 47 matches combined at the tournament proper, and the spectre of another poor showing — even a repeat of 2018’s first-round eliminations — looms large.
We present a status report for each of Africa’s five Qatar-bound teams, including the key areas they need to improve.
