4 July 2026
Africa Dreamed Big but Woke Up Too Soon at World Cup 2026
Cape Verde lit the torch but a wider pattern of African near misses leaves questions hanging over the continent's progress at this tournament.
Writing in The Guardian, Jonathan Wilson celebrates Cape Verde's heroics while raising a more searching question about African football's overall showing at the 2026 World Cup. Several of the continent's strongest sides found themselves ahead against top opponents, only to fall short when it mattered most.
Wilson notes that Senegal led France at half-time, Morocco led Brazil and Côte d'Ivoire led Germany during the group stage. None of those promising positions were converted into wins. Egypt did reach the last 16, but through a penalty shootout against Australia that The Guardian describes as dramatic and uncertain.
The argument put forward is that African football's pyramid is growing wider, with more nations capable of competing at the group stage level, but not yet much taller. For that ceiling to rise, Wilson suggests, the bigger nations need to turn good positions into victories when the opportunity comes.
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