With the next World Cup to be held in South Africa, giving Africa one extra qualifier, and probably the best chance for an African side to win the World Cup, what chance has an African side got of winning the ultimate prize? Pele famously said he believed that an African nation would win the World Cup by 2002. Obviously, he has had to revise that theory with every four years that pass, but when South Africa kick-off the 2010 tournament, which African teams will be in the running?

The World Cup in Germany was notable for many things, including the absence of the recognised powers in African football, that being Cameroon, Nigeria, and to a lesser extent, South Africa. Now, on the basis of their performances in Germany, would anyone argue that Togo or Angola are better teams than Nigeria or Cameroon? Egypt, current African Nations champions, did not qualify either, and it isn’t comparable to the non-qualification of Greece, who were shock winners in Portugal, and have never been viewed as a power in European football, whereas Egypt have long been one of the top teams in Africa.
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