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As is often the case when it comes to international sport, the 2018 FIFA football World Cup tournament in Russia was about much more than 22 players competing for victory over a 90-minute match. We revisit some of the highlights in this selection of articles we published at the time.
France won the competition, but as comedian Trevor Noah quipped on Twitter, it was actually Africa that won given that France’s 23-man squad had as many as 15 players with African roots. The tweet spurred Edward Ademolu to explore African identity and what it means.
Overall, it was an abysmal competition for Africa. All five African countries – Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal – were knocked out in the preliminary round. Wycliffe W. Njororai Simiyu explains why. Key is the fact that a significant number of players who represented European countries could have, but didn’t, play for their mother countries on the continent.
Chuka Onwumechili adds that the story of Africa missing out on players goes back more than half a century. And the final word is on Senegal - Africa’s great hope in Russia. But, argues, Mark Hann, we shouldn’t give up hope. Despite their poor showing, the country can still take a lot of positives from this World Cup.
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