African football's World Cup rise leaves Asia facing hard questions
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Africa sent nine of its 10 teams into the World Cup knockout stage.
- Morocco's long-term investment has become the model for African success.
- Asia lagged behind, with only two teams reaching the knockout rounds.
At the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Africa's five representatives managed only three victories between them, with none progressing beyond the group stage.
The continent's performances raised questions over whether FIFA's decision to increase Africa's World Cup allocation had come too soon.
Eight years later, those doubts have disappeared.
Africa delivers on the expanded World Cup stage
The expanded 2026 FIFA World Cup has showcased a completely different picture.Nine of Africa's ten representatives reached the knockout rounds, making the continent one of the tournament's biggest success stories and providing strong evidence that long-term investment in football development is beginning to deliver meaningful results.
Only Tunisia failed to progress from the group stage.
Cape Verde, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Morocco and South Africa advanced as group runners-up, whilst Algeria, DR Congo, Ghana and Senegal secured qualification as the best third-placed teams.
The contrast with Asia has been striking.
Despite sending nine teams to the tournament, only Australia and Japan reached the knockout stage. Across 27 matches, Asian nations collected just three victories and averaged 0.67 points per game.
African teams, meanwhile, played 30 matches, won 10 and averaged 1.33 points per game - double Asia's return.
Perhaps most tellingly, five decisive Africa-versus-Asia fixtures in the final round of group matches ended without a single Asian victory. Africa won four of those encounters.
Morocco set the standard
Many within African football point to Morocco as the catalyst behind the continent's rapid improvement.Their historic run to the semi-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup proved that an African nation could consistently compete with football's traditional powerhouses.
Victories over Belgium, Spain and Portugal demonstrated that success at the highest level was no longer an exception.
That achievement was not built overnight. Years of sustained investment in youth academies, coaching education, infrastructure and player development created a system capable of producing elite-level talent.
Former Nigeria captain William Troost-Ekong believes Morocco have established the model others should follow.
According to Troost-Ekong, Morocco's success is rooted not simply in financial investment but in patience, planning and consistency across every age group.
Modern facilities, strong academy structures and a clear long-term vision have become the benchmark for African football.
Investment is producing results
CAF president Patrice Motsepe credits the continent's progress to significant improvements in youth football, coaching standards and increasingly professional domestic leagues.Those developments are now becoming visible on the world's biggest stage.
Before 2022, only three African nations had ever reached the World Cup quarter-finals:
- Cameroon (1990)
- Senegal (2002)
- Ghana (2010)
Now, five African teams have progressed beyond the group stage in a single tournament for the first time.
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The expanded 48-team tournament has undoubtedly made qualification from the group stage more achievable.With 16 seeded nations spread across 12 groups instead of eight, fewer groups featured two traditional heavyweights. The inclusion of the best third-placed teams also increased the number of nations progressing to the knockout phase.
However, the format alone cannot explain Africa's success.
If expansion were the only factor, Asia would have enjoyed similar benefits.
Instead, African nations consistently outperformed their Asian counterparts throughout the group stage, suggesting genuine competitive improvement rather than simple advantage from tournament structure.
Can Africa go even further?
South Africa's campaign ended in the Round of 32 after a late defeat to Canada, but several African nations remain capable of making deep runs.Morocco, now African champions, enter their knockout tie against the Netherlands with growing confidence.
A decade ago they would have been considered clear underdogs.
Today, Morocco sit sixth in the FIFA World Rankings - one place above the Dutch - and many observers believe they are genuine favourites.
The road ahead remains difficult.
Potential quarter-final clashes against heavyweights such as France or defending champions Argentina would provide the ultimate test.
Any African nation hoping to reach another semi-final is likely to defeat at least one of football's established elite.
Europe continues to shape African success
One of the clearest differences between Africa and much of Asia lies in player development pathways.Morocco's squad includes 20 players based in Europe, with 15 competing in the continent's top five leagues.
DR Congo have 24 European-based players, whilst even Egypt - whose squad relies more heavily on domestic clubs - still has several players competing abroad.
Jordan present the opposite picture. Forward Musa Al-Taamari is their only player based in Europe.
Iraq and Uzbekistan have just three European-based players each, whilst Iran have four.
The strongest Asian teams reflect a different trend.
Japan have 23 players playing in Europe, Australia have 16 and South Korea have 15, highlighting a clear link between regular competition at elite club level and international success.
Jordan head coach Jamal Sellami believes this remains one of the biggest challenges facing Asian football.
Competing week after week in Europe's strongest leagues exposes players to higher tactical standards, greater intensity and more demanding environments - experience that often proves decisive during major international tournaments.
Asia faces difficult questions
Whilst Africa celebrates unprecedented progress, Asia must confront an uncomfortable reality.South Korea's group-stage exit triggered immediate political and sporting repercussions. President Lee Jae-myung called for an investigation into the national team's performance, describing the campaign as a failure of organisation and personnel.
Within hours, head coach Hong Myung-bo resigned.
Elsewhere, World Cup debutants Jordan lost all three matches, whilst Uzbekistan also exited without a single point.
Former World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro, now coaching Uzbekistan, admitted that - outside Japan, Australia and perhaps Iran - many Asian nations still have considerable work ahead.
A shift in the global football landscape
Africa's rise has not happened by chance.Years of investment in academies, coaching, infrastructure and player development are now producing measurable results at international level.
Morocco demonstrated what was possible in 2022, and the wider continent has built upon that momentum.
Asia, meanwhile, faces a growing challenge.
The expanded World Cup offered more opportunities than ever before, yet Africa seized them whilst many Asian nations struggled.
If the 2026 tournament has revealed one defining trend, it is this: African football is no longer simply closing the gap with the world's traditional powers - it is establishing itself as one of the sport's most rapidly improving regions.
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