Definitely, there is no greater competition than the FIFA World Cup, the European Championship and the Champions League may have a greater viewers and followership, but then the World Cup still beat them to the number one spot simply because of enormous cultural impact the competition usually brings to the table, and it’s ability to unite nations across the world.
The World Cup is the most prestigious football tournament in the universe, as well as the most widely viewed and followed sporting event mainly because of its uniqueness in bringing the World together anytime the Mundial is on parade.
The quadrennial tournament is usually used to determine the World champion anytime it comes to town, as such Qatar has being saddle with the assignment of hosting the World come 2022.
So in this piece, we will look at five difficult African teams to watch out for on the continent of Africa, based on their rankings and current form.
Name: Uganda
Nickname: The Cranes
Manager: Johnny McKinstry
Ranking: 15
The 2019 AFCON qualification is definitely the kind of form the Cranes of Uganda would want to leverage on when the FIFA World Cup qualifier finally kick start, and more so the kind of form they used in prosecuting the World Cup qualifier in 2018 in a group with Egypt et al. Uganda came out top at the AFCON qualifier in a group that consists of Cape Verde, Tanzania, and Lesotho in their quest to qualify for the continents competition.
They qualified for the Mundial after defeating Cape Verde in Kampala, Patrick Kaddu scored the all-important goal late on for the Cranes, who needed to avoid defeat to go through, after nearly 40 years of failing to qualify for the Nations Cup.
It’s definitely another time for the qualifier again, and as such the Cranes of Uganda have been drawn with Rwanda, Mali, and Kenya in Group E in other to fight for a spot at the final lap of the qualifier for a place at the group stage in 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
It would be interesting to see how Uganda would navigate their way when the qualifying session start proper, however as it stands the Cranes could boost of their form and confidence going forward into the qualifier, and as that the likes of Mali who are ranked higher in the FIFA ranking compared to other teams, Rwanda and Kenya should be wary of the threat the Cranes of Uganda would pose when they finally meet during the qualification.
Name: Cape Verde
Nickname: Blue Sharks
Manager: Rui Aguas
Ranking: 16
Cape Verde has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, but they would have another chance to ruffle shoulders with one of the best footballing nations in Africa, Nigeria in the same group with them.
Their first World Cup qualifying campaign was the 2002 World Cup qualifiers, in which Cape Verde was eliminated in the first round after one draw and one defeat against Algeria.
Cape Verde could decide to make this year qualifier a good one for them by going all out against Nigeria and the rest of their opponents with the help of some of their quality players that ply their trade in the Portuguese league.
The Blue Sharks of Cape Verde would want to make this year qualifier count, as they would be going all out to pick the slot for the final lap of qualification for a place in Qatar 2022, though the Super Eagles of Nigeria remain the favorite to come out top in that group, but then taking that slot won’t come easy for them and the other teams in the group as Cape Verde would pose serious threat to their hope of picking the slot for Qatar 2022.
Name: Benin Republic
Nickname: The Squirrels
Manager: Michel Dussuyer
Ranking: 18
The form and the doggedness of the Squirrels enroute their quest to qualify for the AFCON in Egypt when they defeated Emmanuel Adebayor’s Togolese side to booked their place in the nations cup final, is definitely one obvious thing they would want to bank on in this year FIFA World Cup qualifier.
The Squirrels have never qualified for the World Cup, but they could make this year qualifier an opportunity to lunch an assault on the biggest football competition in the world through one of the toughest qualifying routes in Africa.
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Benin who is grouped with Tanzania, Madagascar, and DR Congo in Group J, would also want to show the stuff they are made of just as they did at the AFCON in Egypt when they got to the quarter-finals.
DR Congo would definitely be the number one favorite to come out top in Group J, but then it would depend on how well they could cope with the toughness of the Squirrels when the qualifying session begins, as results in the past have shown how difficult and stubborn they could be, maybe it’s going to be DR Congo, Benin or the other teams that would pick up the ticket only time would tell.
Name: Madagascar
Nickname: Barea
Manager: Nicolas Dupuis
Ranking: 21
Madagascar had a good run in African World Cup qualifying, especially after beating the Central African Republic in the first round 5-2 on aggregate. However, Senegal was too strong for them in the second round where the Lions of Teranga advanced by the same scoreline on aggregate at Madagascar’s expense for the World Cup in Russia.
This year qualifier would serve as another opportunity for the ‘Barea’ to rewrite their wrongs for failing to qualify for the World Cup, as they found themselves in the same group with DR Congo, Tanzania, and the Benin Republic.
Madagascar who qualified for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in their history, after defeating Equatorial Guinea might also wake that form that saw them made history in their football, meanwhile, they’ve also shown they could beat some of the best team in African football with their performance in Egypt.
Name: Mauritania
Nickname: Lions of Chinguetti
Manager: Corentin Martins
Ranking: 22
Mauritania FIFA World Cup qualification journey started back in 1998, where they were drawn with Burkina Faso in a two-legged affair which Burkina Faso eventually advanced with a 2-0 victory.
In 2002, the Lions of Chinguetti also tried their hands on picking the ticket for a place at the World Cup but failed at the expense of Tunisia, they also tried in achieving that in 2006 against Zimbabwe but failed to achieve to break the jinx.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification for African process was altered, as only six lowest-ranked nations played the preliminary, a selection which for the first time did not include Mauritania, but they later played in second qualifying round against Morocco, Ethiopia, and Rwanda.
In 2018, Mauritania defied the odds as they kept the good times rolling by beating South Sudan 5-1 on aggregate in the first round of the African qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, but their hopes were dashed against the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia, although they performed well against Cameroon with a 1-0 victory at the Nations Cup qualifier and of course, South Africa in the World Cup qualifiers before the Tunisian sent them packing.
Mauritania would be looking forward to making this year qualifier count, as they would be involved in the qualification in the quest to pick a slot for Qatar 2022 Mundial, although achieving that might be a tall order for them, but with the kind of form, cohesion, and doggedness they showed at the nations cup, perhaps the Lions of Chinguetti might upset the odds against their opponents.
