denser but without locomotive, where is African football?

The African Cup of Nations, which begins on Saturday, sees many nations wearing the costume of title contenders.

A decade of surprises, great moments, but above all of upheavals. Since 2010, no team has managed to maintain its rank as master of the African continent. The last seven editions of the African Cup of Nations have seen seven different nations triumph before the 2023 opus, which begins on Saturday January 13 and ends on Sunday February 11. And this edition in Ivory Coast does not stand out, with a plethora of teams capable of lifting the trophy.

From the end of the 90s until the transition to the 2010s, Africa seemed to have found leading nations in Cameroon and Egypt, capable of reigning over the continent and pulling it upwards. But after the Egyptian treble 2006-2008-2010, it is on the contrary a period of great renewal that the continent is experiencing.

“It’s true that today there is a leveling down the middledecrypts for franceinfo: sport Patrick Juillard, specialist in African football for Sport365 and consultant in particular for RFI. The average level is progressing. The level of small teams is clearly increasing, we see selections like Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau or Cape Verde which did not exist barely 20 years ago and which today qualify regularly. An Egypt-Cape Verde match, 20 years ago, there was a five-goal difference. It is no longer safe at all today.“

This new density offers the African Cup of Nations additional indecision, but also less continuity, in particular for the nations hoped to be locomotives for an entire continent.

The 2022 World Cup, the symbol of renewal?

The observation is also striking on the international scene during the last World Cups. Co-best African team at the 2014 World Cup (eliminated in the round of 16), Algeria did not appear in the last four of the previous CAN or the next. Same thing during the 2018 World Cup for Senegal and Morocco (quarter-finalists of CAN 2017) as well as for Egypt (CAN 2017 finalist), all eliminated in the 1st round in Russia (like Nigeria). And Morocco, semi-finalist of the World Cup in December 2022, stumbled in the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations in January of the same year.

This same World Cup in Qatar nevertheless gives a glimpse of bright days for African football, discussed for many years as “the future of international football”. For the first time in history, each of the African teams involved won at least one match. And four years after a lackluster 2018 edition without a single representative out of the group stage, Morocco became the first African team to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup, before being eliminated by the team of France.

“There is a glass ceiling that has been broken, it’s a real break in a good way. We are perhaps at the start of something new.”

Patrick Juillard, journalist specializing in African football

at franceinfo: sport

The Atlas Lions are added to the long list of African teams capable of shining – if only temporarily – at the highest international level. They now have to confirm this emerging status in the context of an African Cup of Nations, something other new strongholds have not been able to do for almost 15 years. “We saw Algeria win in 2019 and get out quickly in the first round two years laterrecalls Patrick Juillard. Or Cameroon winning a CAN in 2017 and completely failing in the next edition. Nigeria won the competition in 2013 and did not even qualify in 2015… There is a form of instability among the big teams.“

“The CAN is a different reality that must be understoodcontinues Patrick Juillard. More and more teams are made up of players who play, or even who were trained in Europe. These players often have a little time to adapt when returning to an African context, especially in the middle of the season with a shock of climate. This reshuffles the cards a bit, and that’s also why the hierarchy is less clear. Especially since teams like Egypt or Tunisia were mainly built around players from local championships, who knew Africa.“

Senegal for a double, Morocco to confirm

Morocco hopes to break this series, driven by its stars playing in major European clubs such as PSG defender Achraf Hakimi, Noussair Mazraoui (Bayern Munich), Sofyan Amrabat (Manchester United) and Hakim Ziyech (Galatasaray). A second title after that of 1976 would cement the place of the selection as a possible spearhead for all of Africa. Senegal, which repaired an anomaly by finally winning its first continental title during the last edition in 2021, can also claim similar status in the event of a double.

“It is still one of the favoritesbelieves Patrick Juillard. They have only lost one game in 2023, and they concede very few goals. But it’s a slightly aging team, with several executives who left to play in Saudi Arabia [Sadio Mané, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy], it’s not ideal in terms of pace and they play in the heat for many months before the CAN, it can be tiring. And that perhaps lacks a bit of emulation, of novelty while Senegal is extremely brilliant in the youth categories.“

Behind, Mali, semi-finalist of the U17 World Cup (exited by France) at the end of last November, Egypt, around the superstar Mo Salah, or even the regular Burkina Faso – semi-finalist of two of the three editions – continue to grow. New locomotives ready to pull African football forward.