The new CAF president wants Africa to win a World Cup as soon as possible. A challenge that seems difficult to meet.
Populism or realism? The new president of the African Football Confederation (CAF), Patrice Motsepe, was in any case perhaps excited by announcing that an African country could win the World Cup in the coming years. Certainly, the new boss of African football tries to breathe a note of optimism in request that we "stop being too pessimistic and negative about the World Cup". But claiming that "an African team must win the World Cup in the near future", Motsepe appears to be making a difficult promise to keep.
Because the African record during previous World Cups speaks for itself: no selection of a country on the continent has managed to exceed the quarter-finals of this competition. Worse, it is only three times that this has happened in the history of the World Cup. Cameroon was the first to achieve the feat in Italy in 1990. Roger Milla and his teammates had mistreated the English selection, leading the latter to extra time. Cameroon came very close to the semi-final. Then Senegal in 2002 and Ghana in 2010 equaled the African record in the World Cup.
Work on training
Thinking of winning the World Cup for an African country is therefore today more utopian than optimistic. Today, only a few national selections can achieve a feat: Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, but also Senegal or Ivory Coast… All have a chance to shine at the next Worlds.
To shake up the hierarchy, African football will have to work a lot. Will the Motsepe method be the right one? "There is no continent that has succeeded by dwelling on its failures," said the South African. Except that, to move forward, we must take stock of the past. Motsepe, who wants to "make African football attractive", in particular by improving the level and organization of continental competitions, will necessarily have to take an interest in training and local championships.
Because if no African team has gone beyond the quarter-finals of a World Cup, there is a reason. Or even several. The African selections have been confronted for many years with problems: star players, who have taken control of their federations, problems of unpaid bonuses, poorly developed infrastructures or even unworthy working conditions ... Difficult in this context of 'consider achieving the feat.
Few African breeders
Yes, Africa will one day win the World Cup. But in the coming years, it is difficult to see how. The continent's economic development must also be linked to football: it is only by pursuing this positive economic development that Africa will perform in sport. Finally, winning a World Cup cannot be ordered: the United States had, at the end of the last century, programmed a victory in the final. But America has never finally succeeded in catching up with European or South American formations. It is not Argentina who will say that it only takes willpower to emerge victorious.
"I dream of an African victory," said Claude Le Roy a few years ago, who led several African selections. The French coach alone represents a dilemma: can Africa reach the top with foreign coaches? Continental selections almost always call on foreign experts to the detriment of local skills. Here too, Africa must work. Great coaches, motivated players and determined teams… This is what Africa will need to hope to win a World Cup. Not sure that CAF, if it does not start a fundamental work, can dream of a victory "in the near future".