Watch your mouth. ......You don't know me
Not really. Other continents have just as many countries. But one continent (Europe) get's close to half.
The difference is the African teams have to go through a home and away play off system even if they top their group. If you top your group in Europe you go to the world cup automatically.
National disaster ? O Please Italy didn't qualify for the previous world cup as well.
Nothing to do with luck of the draw. Senegal and Egypt won there groups but that wasn't enough bcoz they had to have a play off against each other to see who goes to thr world cup. It'd be like France and Germany who won their groups facing each other to see who goes to the world cup. Would never happen.
I was meaning people of African origin playing for European countries.
Just stating facts.
Never said it was.
Bet Italy wouldn't turn down those players now
I know Africa is a continent. But fair point about if S.America and Europe were one country too.
If Africa as a continent played as one block and attracted the African players from Europe. They'd be a scary team who'd win every world. Well maybe not every but they'd be at the business end. They'd be like Brazil.
Pele who ? lol
I have to agree with you but it's ironic that at under 17 level African teams are very strong
Rather than gone backwards African teams if anything are punching above there weight. The African domestic leagues cannot be compared to La Liga (Spain), Bundesliga (Germany), Seria (Italy), League 1 in France and Copa Do Brazil. The leagues I mentioned above being to the last 6 Soccer World cup winners. It takes a more than a good league to have the talent to win the world cup.
Football was never developed in Africa before independence, and whoever played it well there eventually found its way into the national teams of the metropolitan powers, like the Mozambican Eusébio, who played for Portugal. Back then, the only African nation where football existed at all was Egypt.
Even after independence the African nations struggled to even form national leagues, national teams etc. The difficulties arising from poverty, lacking communication structure and other things being more a priority. The countries where football developed first were, of course, those which had had more autonomy under colonialism (Egypt) or where the colonial power had invested more on colonisation (Algeria and Morocco).
Money is not all that matters: oil-rich Arab nations are not really much better than the average African nations. Basically football is one of the national sports for most countries. It's incredibly difficult to get to the top. Even traditionally sporting giants like USA, despite all the money and investment in USA mens soccer, I mean they're not chumps and you can't mess about with them and they'd give any team a game but despite the millions spent they're still miles away from doing anything serious at a world cup. Which is funny because USA women's soccer teams are double world champs. Same is true of China men's soccer teams. They didn't even qualify for this years world cup and again they've thrown pots of casg at football.
But I think Senegal could do something this time.
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