President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Dr Patrice Motsepe, has said that Africa’s objective of becoming the world champions is getting closer.
His comments come following Morocco’simpressive performance at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The Atlas Lions made history by becoming the first African country to play in the semifinals of the Mundial.
Speaking at the 2022 CAF Outstanding Achievement Award held in Kenya, Motsepe believes Morocco’s recent success on the global stage is a huge testament to Africa’s hunger to be competitive at major tournaments.
“Morocco at the 2022 World Cup made history, the national team of Morocco was not just playing for the people of Morocco, but entire Africa.
“Their historic performance and success is an encouragement, is a motivation for everyone on the African continent.
“Africa has got a proud history of producing some of the best players we have seen at the highest level in football, in Europe and elsewhere.
“One of our main objectives is to make sure that in the near future, a nation from Africa will be victorious at the highest level in the world and be champions of the FIFA World Cup.”
The North Africans have qualified for the final stages of the FIFA World Cup on six occasions; in 1970, 1986, 1994, 1998, 2018, and 2022.
Morocco is set to join Spain and Portugal in a bid to host the FIFA 2030 Men’s World Cup, apparently replacing Ukraine in a three-way alliance with the two European nations.
Ukraine said it would team up with Spain and Portugal in a joint bid last October, but Morocco’s announcement suggests it will no longer be part of the process.
Meanwhile, Africa will have 9 countries representing at the 2026 World Cup after FIFA expanded the competition from 32 teams to 48 teams for the tournament to be joint hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico.