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World Cup 2022: These 5 teams from Africa want to score in Qatar

Five teams from Africa will be represented at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The best chances were given to the former successful team Cameroon with Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting and the Lions from Senegal – even if Bayern star Sadio Mané cannot be there due to injury.

SENEGAL

Senegal lost their opening match against the Netherlands 0-2 this Monday. But the reigning African champions showed that even without Sadio Mané, the team is playing excellent football in Group A – which also features Qatar and Ecuador.

The best chance came from Senegalese striker Ismaila Sarr. The 24-year-old leads the attack in Mané’s absence. Sarr – who plays for Watford FC – placed a right-footed shot into the corner but it was blocked by the Dutch.

Senegal’s captain is French Vosges-born Kalidou Koulibaly. The 30-year-old plays for Chelsea FC and is considered one of the best defenders in the world.

Kalidou Koulibaly heads the ball into Qatar Ricardo Mazalan/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved
Kalidou Koulibaly heads the ball into Qatar Ricardo Mazalan/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved

Goalkeeper Édouard Mendy (31) was also born in France and also plays for Chelsea FC.

Midfielder Gana Gueye (33) comes from Dakar and is currently a professional with Everton FC.

Pape Gueye said before the World Cup: “We have top players who are with big clubs. So why not dream like France or Spain?”

The fact that national idol Sadio Mané injured himself so badly in the Bundesliga on 8 November that he had to undergo surgery in Innsbruck has caused tears in Senegal. President Macky Sall also wished the Bayern player a speedy recovery.

MOROCCO

In their sixth World Cup, the Moroccan national team are dreaming of a similar success to the one they achieved in Mexico more than 30 years ago. In 1986, the Atlas Lions had reached the last 16 and went down in football history as the first team from the continent to make it this far in a World Cup.

However, Morocco will have their work cut out for them in Qatar as their opponents in Group F are Croatia (runners-up), Belgium (2nd in the Fifa rankings) and Canada – a largely unknown side.

The two stars Morocco can rely on are Achraf Hakimi and Hakim Ziyech, who scored an impressive goal from his own half in the friendly against Georgia.

Achraf Hakimi is considered one of the best full-backs in the world. The 24-year-old was born in Madrid and also played there under Zinédine Zidane – he has since signed for Paris Saint Germain.

Achraf Hakimi with his mate Kylian Mbappé at PSG Thibault Camus/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.
Achraf Hakimi with his mate Kylian Mbappé at PSG Thibault Camus/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.

Offensive player Hakim Ziyech (29) is benefiting from a change of coach at the Moroccan national team as the Chelsea pro barely featured under Vahid Halilhodzic.

Morocco’s coach Walid Regragui (47) was previously active in the national team himself.

The Atlas Lions were eliminated in the first round in Russia 2018. Yet the Moroccans didn’t play badly at the time, they were probably just more inexperienced than Portugal, Spain and Iran.

TUNISIA

Tunisia’s national team has been to five World Cups but never made it to the second round. And for the first time at a World Cup, Tunisia will play France. The other nations in Group D are Denmark and Australia.

The Eagles of Carthage were quarter-finalists in the last CAN with their defensive style propagated by coach Jalel Kadri. Playmaker Youssef Msakni knows his way around Qatar as the 32-year-old “Lionel Messi of Tunisia” is currently playing in the emirate.

Wahbi Khazri after losing his match against Brazil in Paris Christophe Ena/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved
Wahbi Khazri after losing his match against Brazil in Paris Christophe Ena/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved

Many of the other players are on duty in their home countries – but with the exception of Dylan Bronn (Salernitana), Ellyes Skhiri (Cologne) and Wahbi Khazri, who plays for Montpellier. Captain and attacking player Khazri is known for his shots from long range, which cause a lot of commotion. In the national team, he is one of the established goal scorers with 24 goals in 71 international matches.

And Wahbi Khazri dreams of scoring more goals in Qatar against France, the country of his birth.

CAMEROON

Cameroon are regarded as one of the most successful national teams on the African continent, with five CAN wins and eight World Cup appearances, but it has been more than 20 years since their last major victory.

The Indomitable Lions look upbeat as they arrive on the plane, however, they face Serbia, Switzerland and Brazil in Group G.

Samuel Eto’o, who is now president of the Cameroon Football Federation, dreams of a Morocco-Cameroon final. Since March, the national team has a new coach, Rigobert Song. The former centre-back is Cameroon’s record international with 137 appearances.

The decision not to include the experienced defender Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui (31) in the national team was controversial.

However, Vincent Aboubakar (30), who scored the decisive goal in the final against Egypt at CAN 2017, is included. The most expensive man in the team is midfielder Frank Zambo Anguissa (27), who plays for SSC Napoli.

Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting Matthias Schrader/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved
Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting Matthias Schrader/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved

Born in Hamburg, Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting, the 33-year-old Bayern Munich player is one of Cameroon’s hopefuls.

GHANA

Ghana only just qualified for the World Cup in Qatar, having been eliminated from the last CAN at an early stage. But now the team wants to prove that it has its place among the best in the world.

Among the international stars in the team is Arsenal FC midfielder Thomas Partey (29).

The Ayew brothers: Jordan (31) and André (32) both also have Premier League experience.

André Ayew at CAN Themba Hadebe/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.
André Ayew at CAN Themba Hadebe/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved.

André Ayew is the only Ghanaian player who featured back in 2010 when Ghana were eliminated from the World Cup after Luis Suarez’s penalty and handball against Uruguay.

Ghana are in Group H in 2022 with South Korea, Portugal and – oh yes: Uruguay

BBC journalist Mimi Fawaz highlights that for the first time at a World Cup, all five teams from Africa will be coached by coaches from their home countries.

By Frank