Cameroon, Senegal, and Ghana are the only African nation to have reached the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals in the years 1990, 2002, and 2010 respectively. On the global stage, the continent's tale has been that of underachievement. The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon were the shining light of the 1990 World Cup in Italy, propelled by Roger Milla's swiveling hips and daring agility. The standard was raised by victories over the World Cup hosts Argentina, Romania, and Colombia. An African team won three games at the World Cup for the first time. That performance was widely expected to herald a new age of achievement. It also seemed to justify Pele’s assertion that an African team would win the World Cup by 2000. That forecast would ultimately fall short, however. 

Senegal shined in the 2002 World Cup hosted jointly by Japan and South Korea where they also gained stamina only to fall short after they failed to go past the last eight of the competition. The Lions of Teranga had surprised many when they crashed France 1-0 in the opening match of the competition despite France being the defending champions of the trophy. Senegal also was the first African team to go through the group stages of the tournament undefeated. They were ultimately undone by fatigue and a golden goal, but that success launched the mainstream appeal of Senegalese football. 

In the 2010 South Africa FIFA World Cup, Ghana were the only continent's team to advance beyond the group stages of the competition. The Black Stars played organized, disciplined football after winning against Serbia and USA in the knockout stages only for their dreams to be ended by a handball that was caught by Luis Suarez denying the African nation an opportunity to advance to the semi-finals in regular time. Their game against Uruguay went to extra time and finally, the hopes of a whole continent were ended in a dramatic penalty shoot-out where Ghana were knocked out. A day that had begun with a lot of enthusiasm on the African continent ended in such a dark and gloomy manner but such is football at times. So, has all that promise and hope disappeared?

The inability of African teams to cross this rubicon is connected to the continent’s economic disadvantages relative to Europe and South America. According to the World Population Review, going by gross national income per capita (as of 2020), nine of the 10 poorest countries in the world are in Africa. This creates a snowball effect that affects the continent’s potential, restricting development, enabling corruption, and impeding professionalism. Africa’s World Cup outings have been littered with scandal, mostly about unpaid wages, that has led to opprobrium and derailed focus. The politics of the nations in Africa is also too closely involved in football which poses a challenge. The small number of World Cup places allocated to Africa is another major debate issue. For a continent comprising 54 member nations, it only gets five slots. In comparison, Europe, with 55 eligible nations, gets 13, and South America, with only 10 nations, gets between four and five. From a purely probabilistic standpoint, this severely reduces Africa’s odds of making an impression. It also means Africa’s World Cup qualification is one of the most difficult to negotiate.

This year, Nigeria and Ivory Coast, both multiple African champions, will miss out in addition to Egypt and Algeria. It is clearly easier for good teams in other continents to qualify for the global showpiece event as compared to good teams on the African continent. Cameroon, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, and Ghana will represent Africa at Qatar World Cup. Tournament experience will not be in short supply as all five nations have appeared in the FIFA World Cup before, and neither will star power. Currently, Senegal represents the best chance of African success in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.