African Nations Facts And Statistics At The World Cup

Rashidi Yekini scored his first World Cup goal in the USA 1994 (Twitter @FastTrackNaija)

JAKARTA - Thirteen African countries have participated in the FIFA World Cup. Specifically for the 2022 edition, five countries have qualified for Qatar, namely Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, Cameroon and Ghana.

We look back at their best moments and celebrations during the World Cup. Compiled from the official FIFA website, check out the stats and trivia we share below.

Egypt became the first African country to play in the 1934 World Cup. It was only 36 years later that representatives from this continent participated in the competition, through Morocco in Mexico. Cameroon remain the only team in history to top a World Cup group on a negative goal difference. In Italy 1990, one-goal victories over Argentina and Romania preceded a 0-4 loss to the Soviet Union. Gialuigi Buffon was a 12-year-old aspiring midfielder until watching Cameroon's Thomas N'Kono at the 1990 World Cup made him dream of becoming a goalkeeper. The Italian legend named his first son Louis Thomas in honor of his idol. The age difference between Rigobert Song (17) and Roger Milla (42) when they participated in the 1994 United States World Cup was more than 24 years. This is the biggest age difference between two team-mates in the history of the tournament.

🌞 @roger_milla_9 enjoys a break at a Naples hotel at Italy 1990. The next day he had a 54-minute break on a Stadio San Paolo bench, went on and hit both goals in a 2-1 win over Colombia that qualified Cameroon for the quarter-finals #WorldCup Moments | @FecafootOfficie pic.twitter.com/uF4KW9Ry8N

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) April 15, 2021

Tunisia sacked their coach during the 1998 France World Cup. After Henryk Kasperczak could only lead his team to defeats to England and Colombia, he was replaced by Ali Selmi, who led them to a 1-1 draw with Romania. When Africa's qualifiers for Korea/Japan 2002 began, Senegal were ranked 79th in the FIFA World Rankings, behind teams such as Thailand, Cuba and Haiti. However, The Lions of Terenga were able to qualify and reach the last eight of the World Cup. Four members of the England squad – David Seaman, Teddy Sheringham, Martin Keown and Nigel Martyn – are older than Nigeria's Femi Opabunmi and Bartholomew Ogbeche combined, both 17 when they met in the 2002 final. In the Group C game in Germany 2006, 2006 there is a 39 cm height difference between Bakary Kone of Ivory Coast and Serbian and Montenegrin giant Nikola Zigic. When they played Iran in the 2006 World Cup final, the 23-member Angolan squad combined scored only 40 international goals. Far less than their rival striker, Ali Daei. At the 2010 South Africa World Cup, Kevin-Prince Boateng of Ghana and Jerome Boateng of Germany became the first brothers to play for different countries and face each other in the competition.

Kevin-Prince Boateng of Ghana and Jerome Boateng of Germany at the 2010 World Cup (Twitter @classicafrica)

Only African Jacques Songo'o, Rigobert Song and Samuel Eto'o have participated in four World Cups. All from Cameroon. Song and Eto'o appeared in all four tournaments and were among the nine players who went to the World Cup with an age gap of 16 years with Antonio Carbajal (Mexico), Elias Figueroa (Chile), Hugo Sanchez (Mexico), Beppe Bergomi (Italy) , Lothar Matthaus (West Germany/Germany), Faryd Mondragon (Colombia) and Rafael Marquez (Mexico).