Since Africa made its debut world cup appearance in 1974 in the shape of DR Congo, the farthest any team from the continent has reached is quarter finals.
Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana achieved that feat in 1990, 2002 and 2010 respectively whereas Nigeria is also the first African country to reached the round of 16 twice in a row.
Sportsworldghana.com takes a look at Africa’s best eleven players in World Cup history.
Richard Kingson
The agile shot stopper used just one friendly game to get back into the Black Stars team ahead of the 2006 world cup in Germany. He was one of the most outstanding players as Ghana reached the round of sixteen and also the quarter finals in 2010
Ferdinand Coly
He was a pillar at the back for the Terenga Lions in the 2002 World Cup as they reached the quarter finals before losing to Turkey through an Ilhan Mansiz golden goal.
Aliou Cisse
The skipper of the famous Senegalese team at the 2002 world cup. Cisse formed an impregnable partnership with Ferdinand Coly at the back and they put the brakes on all the attackers they faced.
Taribo West
He played ed in three successive world cups (1994, 1998, 2002) and was superb at the back as the Super Eagles reached the second round in the 1994 and 1998 tournaments
John Paintsil
A marauding right-back, Paintsil played all the games for Ghana at the 2006 and 2010 world cup. He never put a foot wrong and was superb at right-back
Omar Daf
An efficient left-back, Daf could also operate as a right back because if being ambidextrous. He was among the best defenders at the 2002 world cup in Japan/South Korea
Bouba Diop
Nicknamed “Wardrobe” because of his giant stature, the late Bouba Diop netted three goals in the 2002 world cup including a stunner against France in the opening game.
Sulley Muntari
Muntari played in three world cups for Ghana scoring two goals and providing one assists. He was one of the key players as Ghana reached the second round in Germany.
Hadji Diouf
One of the stars in the 2002 world cup, Hadji was the live wire pf the Senegalese team. Despite the Teranga Lions reaching the quarter finals, Diouf made the list of the ‘team of the tournament”
Asamoah Gyan
Africa’s leading scorer in the world cup history with six goals and one assist in three tournaments, Gyan’s name can never be erased when one is talking about the performance of the continent players at the Mundial.
His goals against USA and Germany are listed among the FIFA World Cup best goals.
Roger Milla
The star man of the 1990 world cup, Milla is Africa’s second highest scorer at the world cup with five from three tournaments. He is noted for guiding Cameroon to the last eight in Italy.
Formation: 3-4-3
Reserves
Francois Oman Biyik
Austin Okocha
Salif Diao
John Mensah
Sunday Oliseh
Andre Ayew
Peter Rufai
COACH: Bruno Metsu
