KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Africa set a record by sending nine teams to the continent. World Cup final tournament.
Seven of them were knocked out in the first round.
Ghana were the last African team to advance to the Round of 32 on Friday night, with the white-clad Black Stars eliminated on a whimper. Lost to Colombia 1-0. Only Morocco, who surprisingly made it to the semi-finals in Qatar four years ago, and Egypt, the continent’s hope for a place in the quarter-finals, remain.
Morocco will play Canada in the first leg of the Round of 16 on Saturday in Houston. egypt survived Gunfight with Australia early Friday to earn a date with Lionel Messi and defending champion Argentina in Atlanta on Tuesday.
La Albiceleste almost made their own history Costs for Friday’s game against Cape Verdewhen the small island nation off the west coast of Africa sent the game into overtime. Argentina ultimately won 3-2 in one of the best matches of the tournament.
Congolese coach Sébastien Desabres said, “We are very proud that so many African teams have made it to the last 32.”
Africa has never sent three teams to the last 16. The highest number was four years ago, when Senegal made it along with Morocco, and in 2014, when Algeria and Nigeria both participated in the tournament in Brazil, but were quickly defeated.
“For a long time there have been questions about what African countries can do in major competitions,” Ghanaian forward Brandon Thomas Asante said earlier this week. “And it’s great to see such success across African countries. This just shows that there’s a lot of talent around the world, and Africa is no exception.”
In fact, even in defeat, African teams acquitted themselves admirably at the World Cup.
Congo led for most of the match against England, with Harry Kane relieving the Three Lions with two goals in the closing stages. Belgium needed two goals in the final minutes of regulation to finally secure the victory with seconds remaining in overtime against Senegal. Ivory Coast were level with Norway until Erling Haaland’s goal in the 86th minute sent the Vikings into the last 16.
South Africa lost to Canada and Algeria lost to Switzerland, but like Ghana on Friday night, those teams failed to score.
“Every team that advances to the round of 32 has the will to advance,” Algeria coach Vladimir Petkovic said. “Some people get there wanting to continue, some want to continue the adventure, and some are happy (just being there). There are teams that are much stronger on paper, but we understand that you can’t be sure of anything in practice at this World Cup. You never know if a strong team will beat a not-so-strong team. We have some examples of that.”
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