With the 2022 World Cup in Qatar just six months away, the entire footballing world is excited. Perhaps no more than the fans who are looking forward to the return of the world’s biggest football festival at a new time in the year. To cater to these eager fans, many bookmakers are already offering odds on futures markets, the most popular of which is the outright winner. In England, which is one of the most popular countries this year, fans have access to dozens of them World Cup specific free bet offers which they can use to place these bets.
But while the usual teams can be found at the top of bookmakers’ favorites lists, a total of 32 nations are taking part in the FIFA tournament. This list includes countries from every hospitable continent in the world, five of which are from Canada.
Unfortunately, Nigeria didn’t make it into this year’s tournament. The Super Eagles were stripped of their place in the competition after being beaten by Ghana in the third round of the qualifying tournament in March.
The first leg of the round, played at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi, Ghana, ended 0-0. The second leg also ended in a draw, but Ghana’s only away goal at Abuja’s Moshood Abiola National Stadium was enough to secure a place in Qatar.
But who will join them? Here are the African nations taking part in this year’s World Cup.
Ghana
As we mentioned earlier, Ghana was one of the youngest teams to qualify for the World Cup after beating Nigeria in two closely fought matches.
Ghana first took part in the World Cup in 1962 but did not qualify for the main part of the tournament until 2006. When they did, they certainly made an impression.
The 2006 World Cup was held in Germany and Ghana were placed in Group E in the group stage alongside Italy, the Czech Republic and the United States of America.
The African side finished second in the group with six points, just one behind group winners Italy. The team thus reached the round of 16, the first step into the knockout phase. Unfortunately for Ghana, they were drawn against Brazil, one of the best teams in the world.
Four years later, Ghana reached the quarter-finals in South Africa but lost to Uruguay on penalties. In 2014 the team did not progress beyond the group stage, in 2018 not even for the qualification.
However, things look like they are on the up. The Ghanaians who made it into the 2022 competition are hoping for more success. However, they have been drawn into a difficult group as they face Portugal and Uruguay. Ghana could still do it – only time will tell.
Senegal
Senegal have only made it to the World Cup twice, the first being in Japan and South Korea in 2002. Like Ghana, they made real money there and made it to the quarter-finals.
The team was assigned to Group A, a difficult group with France, Uruguay and Denmark. The Senegalese team won their first World Cup match against France 1-0 at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul.
They then waited for draws against Denmark and Uruguay, cementing their place in the knockout stages. After that, they beat Sweden in the round of 16 and met Turkey in the quarterfinals. But that’s where the dream ended as Turkey won 1-0 in the golden goal.
After missing the next three competitions, Senegal again qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, but was ruled out after the group stage.
They qualified again for the 2022 tournament. Like the first time 20 years ago, Senegal will be in Group A and play the first game of the competition, this time against the Netherlands.
Add to that Qatar and Ecuador, so there’s a good chance we’ll see the African team again in the knockout stages.
Tunisia
Tunisia participated in their first World Cup as an independent nation in 1978 but only made it to the group stage. The same happened 20 years later in France, again in 2002 and again in 2006. The last time, in 2018, they qualified for the tournament in Russia but finished 24th overall after losing two out of three matches.
The nation has done it again and hopes to go further this time. Whether they can is another question, but we’ll have to wait until November to find out.
Morocco
Morocco is making its sixth appearance as an independent country at a World Cup. She first took part in 1970 but only made it to the group stage. It took another 16 years for the team to reemerge, but this time they made it to the last 16.
The team has played three more games, first in 1994, then in 1998 and finally in 2018. On all occasions, the group stage has been as far as it can go.
The Moroccans will hope to go a little further this time and maybe even improve on 1986, but that could be a challenge.
Cameroon
Cameroon is the last African country to take part in the 2022 World Cup. It is the team’s eighth participation in this competition, although it only started in 1982. Cameroon qualified on their first attempt but only made it through to the group stage.
Eight years later they made it to the quarter-finals, but lost to England in extra time.
It was their best performance yet, which Cameroonian fans hope to change in Qatar later this year.
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