African teams in Qatar

steve zizou

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Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, Cameroon and Ghana will be representing the continent this year. Thought I create a home in this thread to track African teams' progress.

Who's going to have the best tournament?
Senegal is Africa's top team but how's their chances now that Mané has officially been ruled out?

Both Tunisia and Morocco find themselves in well groups with balanced opposition. Tunisia are as always a well drilled team and will fancy themselves at least against Denmark and Australia.

Morocco in particular have some top players like Hakimi, Mazraoui, Ziyech who won't be fazed by the competition.

Cameroon and Ghana are in much tougher groups but both have the pedigree. Cameroon may not have the household names of yesteryear but they qualified knocking out both Ivory Coast and Algeria so they're not too shabby.

Ghana is the lowest ranked team in the tournament but are they playing a long con on everyone by pretending they're shite? Just saw them comfortably brush aside Switzerland 2-0 with both Partey and Kudus (arguably thier 2 best players) not playing a single minute.

So will Africa finally shine in Qatar or is this thread going to be closed after the Group stages??
 

WeePat

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Eto’o thinks it will be a Cameroon v Morocco final. I agree with him.

 

Rood

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Morocco sacked their experienced Bosnian manager 2 months ago and replaced him with the local league winning manager from Wydad Casablanca. Risky move on an inexperienced manager.

But Ziyech returns to the squad after being exiled by previous manager

Strongest defensively, lack a top striker

Unlikely to get out the group - need to get points from Belgium and/or Croatia before best chance of 3 points Vs Canada
 

2cents

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I’ve a soft spot for Morocco but know nothing about them. Always found North African sides to be boring as feck, in contrast to the West African nations who usually bring a bit of fun and drama to the World Cup.

Be interested to see Hannibal.
 

Lay

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Always had a dislike for the North African sides, but for West African teams I enjoy watching them. A shame Mane is out but I still think they'll have enough to get through. Boulaye Dia is an interesting forward. Seen him play for Salernitana and he's a handful.
 

adexkola

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Senegal were my favorites to go far in the knockout stages. Mane out is a huge blow. I think they'll do well to qualify now.

Ghana... Have they improved much since AFCON and the final qualifier against Nigeria? Open question. If they have not, then I see them exiting real fast. Also, do y'all not have anyone better than Andre Ayew? Surprised Hudson-Odoi didn't switch over.

Cameroon... Assuming everyone in their group gets beaten soundly by Brazil... I'd have Serbia as favorites. But Cameroon are a disciplined side. Great at penalties too. I wouldn't write them off but long shot to making it out of the group.

Tunisia? 3 games then back to Tunis. A dumb mistake by Mali in the qualifiers let Tunisia through (and in my very honest opinion, the quality of teams that come out of the stage are very much diminished by the nature of the qualifiers. It's much easier for the worse team to win a round tie depending on luck related variables)

Morocco is a solid team but unless Ziyech becomes the player Chelsea thought he was when they bought him, they will have little going forward.

Rooting for whichever of these makes it the furthest. Then I'll switch over to France. Ha.
 

Blackwidow

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Cameroon... Assuming everyone in their group gets beaten soundly by Brazil... I'd have Serbia as favorites. But Cameroon are a disciplined side. Great at penalties too. I wouldn't write them off but long shot to making it out of the group.
Choupo-Moting recently really is on song. With 9 goals and 2 assists in about 750 minutes playing time in Bundesliga and Champions League. Scored in all but 1 of 9 recent matches for Bayern and scored the goal in a 1:1 tie in a friendly today, too.
 

adexkola

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Choupo-Moting recently really is on song. With 9 goals and 2 assists in about 750 minutes playing time in Bundesliga and Champions League. Scored in all but 1 of 9 recent matches for Bayern and scored the goal in a 1:1 tie in a friendly today, too.
I hope he starts up front for Cameroon instead of Aboubakar.

Any chance of Bayern resigning him?
 

massi83

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Both Tunisia and Morocco find themselves in well groups with balanced opposition. Tunisia are as always a well drilled team and will fancy themselves at least against Denmark and Australia.
Denmark are big favourites against Tunisia, you can get 8/1 on Tunisia in their h2h.

Let's hope Senegal qualifies and knocks out England in R16.
 

steve zizou

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Black Stars arrive in Qatar in style
 

VorZakone

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Hoping for a good world cup from Ziyech. Sweet left foot when he's in form.
 

FootballHQ

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Tunisia easily the weakest imo. Will be hard to score against but very little goals in them. Possibly get a draw v Australia and but hard to see anything against the other two even if France will be a very big game for them.

Ghana actually have a decent spine now with the naturalized players, got Inaki Williams confirmed which is one of the more interesting nationality switches for this World cup (amazed he only got one cap for Spain given all his years as regular starter for Bilbao). I also think Kudus is a decent player and isn't Sulemana highly rated so they have some decent young attackers coming through. Decent amount of experience at the back and they'll be hugely motivated v Uruguay so can see them getting 4 points but don't know if that will be enough.

With Cameroon I always think of their fantastic teams in 90s. Felt 2002 was a turning point as they were expected to get out of the group but missed out and just been a making up the numbers team at World cup ever since. Brazil and two streetwise european teams is very hard draw so would be surprised if they finished even 3rd.

Mane out is a huge blow for Senegal so not even sure they'll get out of the group stages.

Interesting people saying Morocco have nothing upfront...En-Nesyri had some decent scoring seasons in Spain but not played much for Sevilla this season but he could be someone who scores in opening game and then gets going. Like the look of the backline with Hakimi, Saiss and Mazraoui so I'll go for Morocco to be a pleasant shock of group stages and qualify ahead of Croatia.

Will certainly be much needed seeing 7-8 African teams at next World cup when you think of the quality missing from this event from national teams of Egypt, Algeria and Nigeria. DR Congo another who have some really good players but always get hard play off draws/qualifying groups so always miss out just.
 

avgp_1

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I think Ghana may cause an upset. They have some decent players in Sulemana, Partey, Kudus, Salisu, Iñaki Williams. Samed and Sowah are interesting young players. Will be fun to see how it all works out in that group with Portugal, Korea Rep and Uruguay
 

90 + 5min

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Morocco sacked their experienced Bosnian manager 2 months ago and replaced him with the local league winning manager from Wydad Casablanca. Risky move on an inexperienced manager.

But Ziyech returns to the squad after being exiled by previous manager

Strongest defensively, lack a top striker

Unlikely to get out the group - need to get points from Belgium and/or Croatia before best chance of 3 points Vs Canada
I thought that was some bad move by Marocco. Why sack a manager that helped you a lot in every way. We know why and that was one really bad move.
 

Rasendori

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Ghana... Have they improved much since AFCON and the final qualifier against Nigeria? Open question.
As you say Ghana were abysmal during AFCON. One of the few positives from Ghana's showing at AFCON was the emergence of Kofi Kyereh who prior to the tournament was on the periphery, and now looks like he could be a mainstay in the starting berth. He was certainly i my view, Ghana's standout performer in that competition. I would like to see a a midfield of Kyereh, Kudus who didn't get meaningful minutes at AFCON because of a fractured rib, and Partey at club level is playing for a side in an upwards trajectory so he'll be coming to the World Cup with full confidence in his own abilities. In that way, I would personally leave out Andre Ayew as far as the starting xl is concerned.

Although, I can certainly see why he was selected in the squad, and it wouldn't surprise me if he's in the starting berth. Why do I say this? If you take into consideration that at AFCON Milovan Rajevac didn't have senior options to call upon from the bench with perhaps the most notable example being against Gabon where Ghana were leading and there was no figurehead to marshal the troops, so he brought on the inexperienced risk adverse Edmund Addo in an effort to slow down the dynamic. With that in mind, Andre Ayew has a track record of being the captain when the Black Stars won the Fifa U20 World Cup, and was in the starting berth when Ghana almost made history of being the first African side to reach the semi-finals, in this way he's someone the players can look to for leadership. But in terms of tangibles, I quite like the tactical tweak during Ghana's game against Gabon which had A Ayew operating as the most central player of the front three. He was constantly scanning the pitch, dropping deep and making himself a passing option, playing the role of a false 9 momentarily. Its not going to happen, but I wouldn't be against 3 at the back so Lamptey would have the freedom to go on his marauding runs knowing there's cover behind him.

Milovan Rajevac was a disaster and rightly sacked. Ghana now have a new coach in Otto Addo. He has the player's support for knocking out Nigeria in his first time in charge, but ultimately he hasn't spent enough time with the squad, and with the arrivals of Lamptey, Salisu and Williams there's players that aren't familiar playing with each other. And that's not even looking at the quality of the opponents which would make it really difficult to qualify. Fatawu Issahaku the tournament is too soon for him, he needs to spend 4-6 years under the right club manager working on his craft. That's my two cents









[/QUOTE]
 

2cents

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I thought that was some bad move by Marocco. Why sack a manager that helped you a lot in every way. We know why and that was one really bad move.
Why’d they sack him?
 

90 + 5min

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Why’d they sack him?
Pretty much for having a style of play that players needed to adapt to. And lot of them did just that. Some of the biggest stars didn't had that discipline he wanted and he started to not play them. That was somethng their FA didn't like, because they wanted best players to be involved. At least that is what I have heard from my sources. If that is 100% true of false I don't know.
 

Rood

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I thought that was some bad move by Marocco. Why sack a manager that helped you a lot in every way. We know why and that was one really bad move.
Bizarrely it's the 3rd time Vahid Halilhodžić (copy paste!) got a country qualified for the World Cup (Ivory Coast '10, Japan '18) but been sacked just before the tournament

Ziyech wasn't the only reason - there were a couple of other players he fell out with who are back in the squad now including Mazraoui

Moroccan FA were also disappointed with results at last Arab Cup and AFCON
 

Rasendori

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Cameroon may not have the household names of yesteryear but they qualified knocking out both Ivory Coast and Algeria so they're not too shabby.

Cameroon's strength lies in their midfield. Granted, it's not the level of Mali for example , but its "not too shabby". First and foremost, they have Anguissa whose skilful and technical in possession.


Hongla is an important for midfielder for Cameroon. If they can develop chemistry it would be a neat foundation for a playmaker to benefit from. Sadly, they don't have a player in this mould, which is the main shame as opposed to having a "Roger Milla or Eto'o" IMO. Choupo Moting is in the form of his life, but its Cameroon's midfield that stands out the most for me.
 

90 + 5min

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Bizarrely it's the 3rd time Vahid Halilhodžić (copy paste!) got a country qualified for the World Cup (Ivory Coast '10, Japan '18) but been sacked just before the tournament

Ziyech wasn't the only reason - there were a couple of other players he fell out with who are back in the squad now including Mazraoui

Moroccan FA were also disappointed with results at last Arab Cup and AFCON
Hard to spell?

I did read that to. Pretty much wierd.
 

NoPace

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Morocco might have caught a break by having a promising 4th place team in their group in Canada. As a Canadian I won't be shocked if we for example lose 2-1 to Morocco and lose to Croatia but shock Belgium with our speed on the counter (or Croatia, though that midfield should outclass us as only Eustaqio is really quality since Hutchison is so old and Kone so young and the others (and Kone) are MLS players, though the 10 in Osorio isn't bad).

So if Canada can get a draw or even beat Belgium or Croatia but Morocco beats us, they'll only need a draw against Belgium or Croatia to be in good position and it to come down to a mad scramble on the final group day.
 

the_cliff

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Bizarrely it's the 3rd time Vahid Halilhodžić (copy paste!) got a country qualified for the World Cup (Ivory Coast '10, Japan '18) but been sacked just before the tournament

Ziyech wasn't the only reason - there were a couple of other players he fell out with who are back in the squad now including Mazraoui

Moroccan FA were also disappointed with results at last Arab Cup and AFCON
Which I find a bit ironic, since the only world cup he did manage with an African team (Algeria 2014), he did really well, taking Germany, the eventual champions to extra time in the Ro16.
 

Lay

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2018 was disappointing for African teams. I expect better progress this year. I think Senegal even without Mane have potential to go far. The rest I have my doubts but I’m excited to watch Ghana in particular
 

dinostar77

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A african team (no idea which one) could go far as the heat and humidity of qatar will see less pressing, more teams in a low block and slower paced football. The conditions will suit those teams much more than england for example. We cannot do walking pace foootball effectively.
 

Swordsman

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Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, Cameroon and Ghana will be representing the continent this year. Thought I create a home in this thread to track African teams' progress.

Who's going to have the best tournament?
Senegal is Africa's top team but how's their chances now that Mané has officially been ruled out?

Both Tunisia and Morocco find themselves in well groups with balanced opposition. Tunisia are as always a well drilled team and will fancy themselves at least against Denmark and Australia.

Morocco in particular have some top players like Hakimi, Mazraoui, Ziyech who won't be fazed by the competition.

Cameroon and Ghana are in much tougher groups but both have the pedigree. Cameroon may not have the household names of yesteryear but they qualified knocking out both Ivory Coast and Algeria so they're not too shabby.

Ghana is the lowest ranked team in the tournament but are they playing a long con on everyone by pretending they're shite? Just saw them comfortably brush aside Switzerland 2-0 with both Partey and Kudus (arguably thier 2 best players) not playing a single minute.

So will Africa finally shine in Qatar or is this thread going to be closed after the Group stages??

To be honest Senegal is pretty average without Mane
 

FootballHQ

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To be honest Senegal is pretty average without Mane
If they'd held this tournament a year ago I think they could've been potential QFs. However now Mendy isn't playing much at Chelsea, Koulibaly really struggled in premier league so far and Gana at Everton has looked off the pace so with no Mane their spine isn't as strong so will need some of the younger supporting cast to break through in this tournament otherwise they'll go out in the group.
 

OmarUnited4ever

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Most world cups I watched in the past I tried to watch every game I could in group stages which resulted in alot of borefests affairs.. this time I am going to be selective, and I picked Senagal & Morocco as the African teams that will follow, alongside Argentina, Brazil, France, Croatia, Japan, Qatar, México & USA (basically 2 teams from each continent)
 

LuckyScout78

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Senegal with a fully fit Mane, is on paper a really good team and they won the African nation cup. If Mane came back from injury in time. Senegal can surprise. It depend on getting Mane back from injury.
 

Arlo

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Always had a dislike for the North African sides, but for West African teams I enjoy watching them. A shame Mane is out but I still think they'll have enough to get through. Boulaye Dia is an interesting forward. Seen him play for Salernitana and he's a handful.
A lot of Africans aren't partial to the North African sides either. Might be to do with some of the gamesmanship they sometimes indulge in.

Mane is a huge miss for Senegal but we'll have to wait and see how they cope without him.
 

Rood

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Didn't know which thread to put this in, this seems as good as any!

 

Maagge

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Didn't know which thread to put this in, this seems as good as any!

I had no idea Robert Skov was born in Spain! Turns out his dad was working on Marbella for a short while when he was born.
 

Rood

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4 matches, no goals for Africa - can Ghana save the day ?

Inevitable that Cameroon born Embolo scores for the Swiss