“The evermore glittering scenes of majestic football is made felt by fans as betoken in the highly revered World Cup tournament” – IsK.

Highly anticipated games; typified by raving and nail-biting moments for both players and fans starring on in the stadiums and from their television screens across the world, the lofty ambitions of every professional footballer boils down to a single event on a global stage–World Cup tournament games. The heightened sense of belief in colours and badges makes the occasion nothing less than a do-or-die affair. Teams are well represented by both big-money (competitively akin to Europe’s major competition) and those making names (coming off the ranks) in their country’s domestic leagues.

A bird’s eye view on African Teams heading to the East (Qatar) in November to hoist the Continent’s flag

The Federarion Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) held the World Cup tournament draw on April 1, 2022 at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center, Qatar, with eight groups (A-H). The continent of Africa is represented by six teams, finely poised amongst Europe’s top guns.

A round view of these groups

• The Lions of Teranga and reigning African Champions, Senegal, are drawn with host nation Qatar, Ecuador and in-form Dutch side, Netherlands in Group A.
• The Arab Boys of the North, Saudi Arabia are pulled in a ‘group of death’ alongside Argentina with their 7-time Balon d’or holder (Messi), Mexico and Lewandowski’s Poland in Group C.
• The Carthage Eagles of Tunisia, one of the most successful teams in AFCON will look to lock horns with World Cup winners 2018, France, Denmark and the winners between an AFC or CONMEBOL side in Group D.
• The Atlas Lions of Morocco will settle scores with top rated international teams in Europe, namely, Belgium, Croatia and then Canada in Group F.
• The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon will have to show resilience against an all-round fearsome Brazil squad, a compact Swiss team, Switzerland and Serbia in Group G.
• The Black Stars of Ghana must negotiate their way past Uraguay, South Korea and the venomous Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal in Group H, on hopes of reaching the knockout phases

The World Cup tournament semi-final stages have never been graced with the presence of an African nation. That said, many die-hearted fans believe the continent now wields the finest players in the world game to make 2022 a memorable one with big names. The farthest ever reached by African teams in the event is the quarter-finals in only three editions: Cameroon in Italy (1990), Senegal in South Korea/Japan (2002) and Ghana in South Africa (2010).

Can Africa make it happen? We’ll find out