Which African Countries Will be in Qatar for World Cup 2022

Jenny Barry October 30, 2022 | 10:30

Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Cameroon and Morocco have become the teams that will represent the African region in the 2022 World Cup finals to be held in Qatar.

Which African Countries Will be in Qatar for World Cup 2022

How Many African Teams Will Play in Qatar for World Cup 2022?

Contents
How Many African Teams Qualify for World Cup 2022? Check More: World Cup 2022 Full Fixtures of 64 Matches - Updated Key Facts: 5 Teams from Africa Qualify for World Cup 2022 Preview: Fading African Football in Qatar

How Many African Teams Qualify for World Cup 2022?

After a series of matches from the morning of March 30, 2022, Africa has officially determined the 5 best teams representing the region to attend the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with kick off on November 21, 2022.

Teams that qualify for Qatar include Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia, Cameroon and Morocco.

No African country has ever won the World Cup, and we will all be overjoyed if they did in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Cameroon will be making their eighth World Cup finals appearance in Qatar. The five-time African champions are still dreaming of emulating the memorable run of Roger Milla and company back at Italy 1990. This time, they face Switzerland, Serbia and Brazil in their group. While Neymar and company will be favourites to come out on top, do not underestimate Sergej Milinković-Savić’s team from Serbia as well.

Morocco are regarded as one of the strongest teams on the African continent and will boast plenty of star power at Qatar 2022, competing at the finals for the sixth time.

For Tunisia, new manager Jalal Qaderi took charge in January after Mondher Kebaier was sacked for a disappointing showing at the Africa Cup of Nations. This will be Tunisia’s sixth appearance at the World Cup and they have never made it to the knockout stage.

As for Senegal, they will be looking forward to repeating the heroics of the 2002 World cup as for now they are quite determined after winning their first ever AFCON trophy. This will be the third World cup for the African nation where they have to face favourites Netherlands, Qatar, and Ecuador respectively from Group A.

Whereas for Ghana, they have now qualified for the World Cup three times prior to their recent qualification for the 2022 World Cup, and had advanced from the group stages on two occasions. They might not be a star-studded team who will make it all the way to the final, but they will surely be an exciting team.

Key Facts: World Cup 2022 in Qatar

♦ The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar is the 22nd world football championship for the national team.

♦ 32 excellent national teams will compete against each other in 8 groups. This is the second time a World Cup is held in Asia (after the 2002 World Cup in Japan & Korea).

♦ France is the defending champion of the tournament.

♦ The time of the 2022 World Cup is slightly different, instead of taking place in the summer as usual, it will be moved to winter.

Check More: World Cup 2022 Full Fixtures of 64 Matches - Updated

Key Facts: 5 Teams from Africa Qualify for World Cup 2022

#1. Ghana

FIFA World Ranking: 60th

Qualifying Record: 8P, 4W, 1L, 3D

Top Scorer: André Ayew and Thomas Partey (3 goals)

Ghana qualified for their fourth World Cup after edging out Nigeria on the away goal rule following a 1-1 draw in Abuja. The two sides drew 0-0 in the first leg in Kumasi last week and heading into the return fixture, the Ghanaians only needed a scoring draw to progress.

#2. Senegal

FIFA World Ranking: 20th

Qualifying Record: 8P, 6W, 1L, 1D

Top Scorer: Famara Diédhiou (4 goals)

For the second time in as many months, Senegal edged out Egypt on penalties. Having beaten the Pharaohs on spot kicks to clinch their first TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations title, the Lions of Teranga repeated the same feat, this time to seal a place in the World Cup.

#3. Tunisia

FIFA World Ranking: 35th

Qualifying Record: 8P, 5W, 1L, 2D

Top Scorer: Wahbi Khazri (3 goals)

Tunisia completed the roster despite being held to a 0-0 draw by Mali at home. The 1-0 victory they picked in Bamako last week proved to be vital, as the Carthage Eagles flew to their sixth World Cup appearance.

#4. Morocco

FIFA World Ranking: 24th

Qualifying Record: 8P, 7W, 0L, 1D

Top Scorer: Ayoub El Kaabi (5 goals)

The Atlas Lions of Morocco were in emphatic form against the DR Congo at the Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca, winning 4-1 on the night and 5-2 on aggregate to sail into their sixth World Cup appearance.

#5. Cameroon

FIFA World Ranking: 37th

Qualifying Record: 8P, 6W, 2L, 0D

Top Scorer: Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Karl Toko Ekambi (3 goals)

Karl Toko Ekambi swept home perhaps the most important goal of his career, scoring in the fourth minute of added time as Cameroon beat Algeria 2-1 in Blida to qualify for their eighth FIFA World Cup.

Preview: Fading African Football in Qatar

In the past, people were always impatiently waiting to see exciting surprises from Africa, in the World Cup arena.

Right from the first time FIFA expanded the World Cup from 16 to 24 teams and granted Africa more than 1 place to attend the finals (World Cup 1982), African football has resonated. Cameroon did not lose a match, just ranked below and gave way to Italy because they lost in the second sub-index (the same point, the same goal difference but scored less than 1 goal). That means there is almost no difference between Cameroon and… the champion of that tournament. The other African representative, Algeria, won even Germany (the final runner-up), was also eliminated because of the sub-status, which is actually a blatant arrangement between Germany and Austria. From the 1986 World Cup until the 2014 World Cup, African football always had a representative in the knock-out stage at the World Cup finals, in many cases it was a great surprise, forever in history.

Sadio Mane of Senegal is the brightest name of African football at the 2022 World Cup

But recently, Africa's mark in the World Cup arena is increasingly fading. The 2018 World Cup became the first World Cup that all five African representatives stopped right after the group stage. On the one hand, the element of surprise has almost completely eliminated, in a time when most African players play in Europe and strong teams are no longer subjective when they encounter African opponents. . On the other hand, it is the "Europeanization" characteristics of African stars that have created a "warping", even completely lost when returning to their national team shirt. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea) or Naby Keita (Liverpool) often cease to be themselves in a Gabon or Guinea shirt mainly for this reason.

Of course, Aubameyang and Keita were both excluded from the World Cup. Similar are Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt), Riyad Mahrez (Man.City, Algeria), Sebastien Haller (Dortmund, Ivory Coast), Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace, Ivory Coast), Victor Osimhen (Napoli, Nigeria) … Of the 10 best African players in 2022 that Four Four Two magazine voted, more than half (6 people) are players who will not appear in the World Cup finals. Absent so many stars, the hope of African football at the upcoming World Cup becomes blurred. The upcoming African players in Qatar include Achraf Hakimi (PSG), Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea) of Morocco; Thomas Partey (Arsenal) of Ghana; Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich), Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea) of Senegal. Depending on the point of view, each person could list a few more names, but obviously not insignificant. Talent (accompanied by a bit of "mystery") has always been the biggest advantage of African football in the old World Cup arena. But at this World Cup, the talent of African football is too limited, completely inferior to this football in the past.

In the international series, 5 African teams about to attend the World Cup will play 10 friendly matches. They only won 4, of which only 1 match won against an opponent in the "top 80" in the FIFA rankings (Morocco won against Chile 2-0). The current Morocco coach is coach Walid Regragui, strange even in this country's football village. Regragui was only selected to replace Vahid Halilhodzic in August. Yet the team without a star in his hand is considered the most successful African team in the recent international series. Strong African teams such as Ghana, Cameroon, Senegal are all struggling with their own problems, in addition to poor results from friendly matches. It's not that they don't have ambition, but it's very difficult for them to achieve their ambition in this World Cup.