Morocco Head Coach Vahid Halilhodzic Believes It Will Take Africa 10 Years to Win the World Cup

Morocco Head Coach Vahid Halilhodzic Believes It Will Take Africa 10 Years to Win the World Cup

Godwin Nii Armah Tagoe
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:59 PM
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  • Vahid Halilhodžić reckons an African country can win the FIFA World Cup within the next 12 years
  • The continent was first represented at the Mundial by the Pharaohs of Egypt in the 1934 edition hosted by Italy
  • The farthest stage reached by an African country at the global showpiece is the quarterfinals which were attained by Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana

Head coach of Morocco Vahid Halilhodžić reckons Africa would have to wait for a decade or more to witness its first success at the FIFA World Cup.

Africa's participation at the Mundial dates back to 1934 when the Pharaohs of Egypt became the first nation from the continent to make an appearance at the global soccer showpiece.

Since 1934 the continent has witnessed 13 nations participating in the FIFA World Cup with the farthest stage reached by an African country being the quarterfinal stage.

Morocco, Head Coach, Vahid Halilhodzic, Believes, Take, Africa, 10 Years, Win, World Cup
Morocco head coach Vahid Halilhodzic believes it will take Africa 10-12 years to win the World Cup. Photo credit: @CalumAtkinson @SquawkaNews @GhanaBlackstars @FecafootOfficie
Source: Twitter

The quarterfinal berth has been attained by only three nations - Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010).

With the World Cup less than nine months away, Bosnian-born tactician Vahid Halilhodžić, who handles the Atlas Lions of Morocco, believes the continent is closing the gap on the rest of the world however conceded it will take quite some time before Africa attains the Holy Grail.

"African football players progress more and more but for an African team to go all the way one day, a bit more time is needed," Halilhodzic said as quoted by bbc.
"Today, African footballers are the best in the world, [with] the image of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Achraf Hakimi, Yassine Bounou.
"But now you need the teams to become more [effective] to one day go all the way. It won't be for right now, but in 10-12 years perhaps there will be an African team that will win it."

In the interim, Morocco has been drawn into Group F alongside title favourites Belgium, 2018 runner-up Croatia and Canada, who made a return to the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

Morocco joins Ghana, Senegal, Tunisia and Cameroon to secure World Cup berth

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Morocco made light work of their World Cup play-off opponent DR Congo to seal a spot at Qatar 2022, joining Ghana and Senegal as representatives from the continent.

A strong display by the Atlas Lions saw them score two goals on either side of halftime to stroll past DR Congo 4-1 at the Mohammed V stadium.

The North Africans qualified 5-2 on aggregate after the two-legged game.

Authors
Godwin Nii Armah Tagoe photo
Godwin Nii Armah Tagoe
Godwin Nii Armah Tagoe is a Ligue 1, Bundesliga, and La Liga editor with five-year experience. He previously worked with Sports Corna and 360SportsGH.
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