African teams and players have largely demonstrated they can produce quality football in this tournament, elevating the image of African football.
Story time. One of the first quality displays of an African team in an international tournament I remember witnessing was Egypt in the 2009 Confederations Cup. It may not have resulted in them making a deep run, but Mohamed Aboutreika quickly became one of my favorite players. He had a graceful, languid style to his play. As a playmaking 10, his vision was impeccable. He was like Mesut Ozil before we knew about his talents. Aboutreika led his underdog Egypt against the mighty opponents Brazil and Italy.
One of the more surprising runs in the 2019 AFCON was made by South Africa. In the Round of 16 match, Bafana Bafana faced against hosts and tournament favorites Egypt until a late goal by Thembinkosi Lorca shocked the North African side, taking South Africa to the quarterfinals.
Both of these examples were an excuse for me to talk about Aboutreika and Lorch for those who didn’t know about them. But in all seriousness, these examples showcase standout players and big moments, a lot of which has occurred by African players and teams this tournament. This historic tournament has seen two African teams advance to the knockout stage for the first time in their history. It saw them get their first points, goals, and wins. Let’s go through some of the key players and big moments so far.
Yan Diomandé’s merciless cooking against Ecuador
Ecuador were the favorites to advance from this group as runners up to Germany. But Côte d’Ivoire entered the tournament with good form after having just beat France in a friendly a few days earlier. Yan Diomandé has been touted as a transfer target for Europe’s major teams, and he showed it this game. Starting the game on the right, he cooked Ecuador’s Piero Hincapié repeatedly, and Hincapié is quick. Diamondé switched to the left wing during the second half, and the game winner goal came from the right. So I’d guess he tired the left back so bad they couldn’t defend the cross. Fantastic result.
Vai, Vozinha!
In Cape Verde’s World Cup debut against Spain, commentators suggested it would basically be a win for the blue sharks to make it to halftime 0-0. But after the match ended 0-0, the attention went to 40-year-old Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha, who had seven saves against la roja. And to add to that stellar performance, his Instagram following ballooned from 50,000 to 16.2 million. Go, Vozinha!
Democratic Republic of Congo’s historic day
In their first appearance in the World Cup back in 1974, they lost all three group games and don’t score in any, (which I wrote about here). In their second appearance in the World Cup, 52 years after their first World Cup, tournament favorites Portugal were in their path. After Portugal scored the first goal by Joao Neves, it was Yoan Wissa with the equalizer after an Arthur Masuaku cross. After ending 1-1, it was democratic republic of Congo’s first goal and point in World Cup history. Although most of the discourse was around Cristiano Ronaldo’s poor play in this game, it really should’ve been about the historric implications of DRC’s result.
Yirenkyi with the lucky escape
Ghana’s play against Panama was woeful. They could hardly maintain possession, their defense was so open that Panama had outshot the black stars by the end of the game. But with the introduction of winger Brandon Thomas-Asante changed the complexion of Ghana’s attack, and his run down the left wing and cross into the box led to Caleb Yirenkyi’s tap in for the win. Even though Ghana played poorly, this game was critical for their chances of advancing to the knockout stages. This result, I believe, was the most significant of Ghana’s tournament. It allowed them to not play desperate against England, and that’s why they were able draw 0-0, a favorable result.
(Photograph: Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press/AP)
Egypt comeback and Salah’s arrival
New Zealand exhibited elite attacking prowess against Iran with Chris Wood demonstrating his target man abilities. So it looked the same would happen against Egypt, a side who also earned a somewhat surprising draw against Belgium. But it was Mohamed Salah that arrived at the right time with the go ahead goal and game sealing assist. This performance from Salah could be critical to Egypt’s chances of progressing deep into the tournament.
South Africa’s voracious appetite for the knockouts
This was my moment of the tournament so far. Before the game, South Africa narrowly squeaked by Czechia with a late penalty to salvage their hopes of advancing to the next stage. But it appears South Africa’s performances improved game after game (they had no choice but to improve since the world cup opening loss to Mexico). And this was their best game. From the start, Bafana Bafana threatened attack after attack, but they were wasteful. However, their game winner finally came from their future: Thapelo Maseko. And another member of their future played a big role in keeping the clean sheet: 20-year-old Mbekezeli Mbokazi. The Chicago Fire defense owned virtually every aerial duel and tackled with authority.
Honorable Mention: Players in the African diaspora
There are a number of players that have made significant contributions to their team’s performance even if they do not wear the Jersey of an African nation. Team USA’s Nigerian striker Folarin Balogun has the most goals for the United States in the first two group games, and he is in top form. Netherlands’ Ghanaian striker Brian Brobbey was critical to the Dutch and their attack in the last two group games, dispatching three goals. The black Mexican player Julián Quiñones (born in Colombia) has two goals in the tournament, and his good performances generate visibility of black Mexican people. Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal, and Johan Manzambi are also producing key performances.
There are many more moments still for the likes of Algeria and even Senegal to create, especially if they end up qualifying to the Round of 32.
This tournament is taking place in North America, but so far, this World Cup is Africa’s. The aftermath of the competition portends to elevate the image and belief of African football to the world.
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