CAF President Motsepe believes an African team will reach 2026 World Cup final

An African nation will reach the 2026 World Cup final hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe said on Wednesday as he took inference from Morocco’s great run at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

The 60-year-old president believes Morocco has set the ground running for other African countries to emulate and even go beyond.

With the increase in the number of teams at the World Cup, Africa will have about 10 or 11 teams representing the continent, therefore increasing chances of making it big at the world stages.

“I’m confident that in the next World Cup, an African nation will go further,” the South Africa said.

“The historic achievements of Morocco have made all of us in Africa uniquely proud. The future of African football is incredibly bright. 

“If you look at the talent on the continent, there’s 10-15 nations in Africa now that can compete at the highest level in the world and win.”

Motsepe also took inspiration from Croatia successes at back to back World Cup despite their small population.

“Given a nation of 3.5 million people can compete against Brazil, I’ll never accept that an African nation cannot compete at the highest level,” said Motsepe as he spoke in his homeland South Africa. 

“These are proud moments for football in Africa, and the main objective is an African nation to win the World Cup – we have to believe, and encourage every young boy and girl, because it’s not just the men we want to win the World Cup, but also the women.” 

“We are absolutely confident that the performance at the World Cup will serve as a significant stimulus and accelerator for the very good work taking place in increasing the quality and global competitiveness of African football.”

Motsepe was full of praise for Faouzi Lekjaa, the head of Morocco’s football federation, and King Mohamed VI, saying their role in significantly investing into the country’s football should inspire other African countries as he admitted that most countries do not invest enough in their football.

“The quality, growth and success of football in any one of the 54 countries is not what it should be,” he said. “There are a number of countries in Africa, but sadly not many really invest.” 

“Johan Cruyff told me to invest in youth football,” he said.

“Part of my job is to lay a solid foundation. You don’t judge leaders exclusively by what they do, but by the continuity, success and progress when they’re not there.”