Africa will win the World Cup \u201cwithin 15-20 years\u201d says Morocco\u2019s Walid Regragui, who has come closer than any coach to delivering that long-held aim. <\/span><\/p>\n Under Regragui\u2019s guidance, the Atlas Lions became the first African side to contest a World Cup semi-final, where they were <\/span>beaten<\/span> by eventual runners-up France. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The 47-year-old believes that Africa will be bolstered in future by having more than five representatives for the first time from 2026 onwards. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAt the next World Cup, we\u2019ll have nine spots which will allow us to learn more,\u201d said Regragui. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWithin 15-20 years, I\u2019m convinced an African team will win the World Cup. Because we\u2019ll come back each time and learn more, and so our youngsters will have World Cup football in their DNA.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Africa has had five teams at the finals since 1994 \u2013 an allocation considerably less than Europe (13), one more than a South America which has far fewer countries and level with Asia (when the continent is not hosting). <\/span><\/p>\n Yet Africa\u2019s tally will almost double for 2026 and could reach 10 itself should one of its sides make it through an intercontinental World Cup play-off to decide the final representatives. <\/span><\/p>\n The continent\u2019s sides have often struggled to reach the knock-out phase, failing to get any team through in 2018 and always delivering one since the 1994 expansion save for when two teams progressed in both 2014 and 2022. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur problem as African teams, without being too critical, is that we only have five spots, so that means Egypt couldn\u2019t participate this time, nor could Nigeria, South Africa, Mali etc,\u201d said the former Morocco international. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo, each time, because we\u2019re pitted against each other (to qualify), it\u2019s more complicated (to build World Cup experience).\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Following Saturday\u2019s third-place play-off defeat to Croatia, who have now finished on the podium in half the six World Cups they\u2019ve contested, Regragui said their regular presence helps explain the remarkable record. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201c(Jose) Mourinho \u2013 while he was at Manchester United \u2013 spoke about the DNA of the club, but I think this sort of thing exists for national teams too,\u201d said a man who won the African Champions League earlier this year. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhy are European teams always (at the latter stages of the World Cup)? Croatia \u2013 why did they beat us and get the third-place finish? Because they have more experience at this level, they always qualify for the World Cup. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFrom participating in every World Cup, and playing these types of matches again and again, they let you learn, young players learn. It lets your players come back stronger the next time.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n After a creditable display at the 2018 World Cup \u2013 their first in 20 years \u2013 Morocco returned this year to register back-to-back tournaments for the first time since 1994-1998. <\/span><\/p>\n In Qatar, Morocco achieved their stunning progress despite taking on three of the world\u2019s top-ranked sides: Belgium (2), Spain (7), Portugal (9), while also holding Croatia, 2018 runners-up, in the group stage. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve earned years\u2019 worth of experience when you have the opportunity to play Croatia twice in a tournament, who are a top-three team in the world,\u201d added the Morocco coach. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTo play Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium and Canada, it\u2019s extraordinary \u2013 all big games.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n After conceding just one goal in their first five matches in Qatar, Morocco came undone when losing 2-0 to France in Wednesday\u2019s semi-final, prior to Saturday\u2019s 2-1 loss to the Croats. <\/span><\/p>\n Even though Regragui was bitterly disappointed about the failure to become the first African team to either reach a final or finish third, he expects the enormity of his side\u2019s achievements to sink in soon. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re disappointed but when we wake up, we\u2019ll realise just what we\u2019ve achieved,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAfter the final, we will review things, and we\u2019ll realise that Morocco\u2019s campaign was extraordinary. Now, there\u2019s going to be more pressure on us.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n The coach fully expects that the rest of the continent\u2019s top sides will also come under increased scrutiny in future. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere will be more expectations now for other African teams seeking to go on the same sort of run we achieved. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMorocco has shown that (African teams) are capable and not far off (the top teams), so the difference between European teams and African teams is smaller than it\u2019s ever been, and it comes down to the very small details. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s going to be a real boost for African football.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Walid Regragui leads the celebrations after Morocco became the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final Africa will win the World Cup \u201cwithin 15-20 years\u201d says Morocco\u2019s Walid Regragui, who has come closer than any coach to delivering that long-held aim. Under Regragui\u2019s guidance, the Atlas Lions became the first African side to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1267230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1267229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1267229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267229\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1267229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1267229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1267229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2018Extraordinary\u2019 campaign<\/h3>\n
![\"Morocco](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/_128046317_gettyimages-1245417786.jpg\")
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