“After the first round of games at the World Cup, an all too familiar script looked to be playing out for African football fans. Five games played, three losses, two draws and only Ghana putting the ball in the back of the net in a defeat by Portugal. Another disappointing tournament appeared to be looming for the continent that Brazil soccer great and three-time winner Pelé once declared would ‘win the World Cup before the year 2000.’ … However, as Qatar 2022 draws to a close, the outlook looks very different. Every single team from the continent went on to win a game in its group for the first time in history, two teams made it out of the group stages – a joint record – and Morocco will become the first African team to play in a World Cup semifinal. …”
CNN