Why it would take Africa more than fifty years to win a World Cup

The duo of the president of Confederation of African Football (CAF), Mr Ahmad Ahmad and the President of Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, are confident that the Super Eagles or an African team could be the winner of the Russia 2018 World Cup.

“Our highest achievement is the qualification for the World Cup. Secondly, the preparations for World Cup have commenced in earnest as compared to the previous years. With the kind of preparations we are putting in place, I think we can win the World Cup,” said Pinnick.

This is not the first time such a dream would be placed on Africa, as Brazilian legend Pele predicted that an African side would lift the World Cup before the end of the 20th century, but so far none has come close. Though the dream is achievable, it may take the continent another fifty years before an African nation can lift the Jules Rimet trophy.

A few qualifying places, dodgy sportsmanship and an overdose of bad luck seem to be the fate of many African teams in the tournament. Many fans of the game in the continent usually point to bad officiating to drive home this fact.

But the limitation of the progress of African teams in the tournament is caused by some other factors beyond bad officiating.

Here are some of the issues African team must address before aiming for the lofty trophy.

1. Inadequate representation

One main reason an African team would find it pretty hard to get to the final of the world cup is the poor representation at the tournament. 48 African countries are made to jostle for five slots while Europe has 13 places in the game.

With a slot of five teams, it is hard to see two black nations in the quarter finals of any edition of the game. As hardly would two or three football teams make it out there group to the knock-out stage.

2. Poor planning and inadequate preparation

African teams that secure their places in the tournament are bedevilled with poor preparation for the tournament. Not only has this befallen many competitors, African players have also shown a tendency to be less enthusiastic when playing for their national teams.

John Barnes who represented England at the 1986 and 1990 World Cups, told pay TV channel,Supersports, that there is a need for a mental tweak by African players as regards playing for their national teams.

“Africans must show the same desire and discipline when playing for their country that they do when playing for European clubs.”

3. Stopping over-age players

Fielding over-age players for the tournament is also another factor that may make the continent to find it hard winning world cup any time soon.

Majority of the African players are far older than they claim, thus lacking the needed power and agility to achieve a good playing time at the tournament.

Expect for John Mikel Obi, many of African players that featured alongside Messi at the FIFA under-17 World Cup in 2005 are currently nowhere to be found now.

4. Bad officiating against African teams

One factor that most sports analysts have concluded as a major cause of Africa not winning the World Cup is poor sportsmanship by European countries and officials.

Several African countries have been victims of poor calls. Cameroon went out of France 98 under a cloud. There was also Cameroon against England in 1990, Nigeria against Italy in USA 1994 and many others.

5. Poor team management and conflict

Other more complex issue is the repeated conflict between national associations and teams at international games. This usually affects the psychological stability of the players, thus leading to poor play on the field.

Recently, cases of Nigeria at the Olympics in 2016 and Cameroon at the Brazil World Cup indicate that there is a long way for Africa. Ghana left the 2014 World Cup in shame after players mutinied over a delay in the payment of bonuses.

“The only problem in Africa is our leaders, who do not respect us. Until we are respected, other (continents) will never have any consideration for us,” Eto said about footballing bodies in Africa.

For Africa to succeed globally, a clear pathway to local success needs to be carved.