Former Super Eagles captain and coach Augustine Eguavoen believes African nations are now capable of competing with football's biggest powers and could even challenge for the 2026 FIFA World Cup title, Soccernet.ng reports.
The expanded tournament, being staged across the United States, Canada and Mexico, features a record 10 African representatives. After the opening rounds of matches, several teams from the continent have produced results that have strengthened belief that Africa could finally claim its first World Cup crown since the competition began in 1930.
Morocco, Africa's highest-ranked side, held tournament favourites Brazil to a goalless draw before beating Scotland one-nil, as predicted. Ivory Coast and Ghana recorded heartwarming victories over Ecuador and Panama, respectively. Cape Verde, making their World Cup debut, frustrated former champions Spain in a 0-0 draw, while DR Congo earned a 1-1 result against Portugal despite the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo. Tunisia, though, fell to a humbling loss against Sweden and have been backed to stage a comeback.
Those performances have convinced Eguavoen that the traditional gap between Africa and football's established giants such as Spain, France, Argentina, Brazil and Germany has become much smaller than in previous decades.
World Cup: Eguavoen on why Africa can now compete with the world's best
Speaking to Flashscore.com, Eguavoen said recent World Cups were often dominated by a handful of favourites, but believes the landscape has changed significantly.
“What we saw like three or four editions back at the World Cup, you could clearly say that Brazil would win it, Argentina would win, Spain or Germany, but it's not so anymore,” Eguavoen said.
“We're closing the gap, so I believe Africa has a real chance. The good thing is that FIFA has made this tournament very open. If you play well, you win games.”
The former Nigeria defender pointed to the growing number of African players competing regularly in Europe's elite leagues and clubs as one of the main reasons behind the continent's progress.
“When I talk about our players, I mean African players in general. The majority are now playing in Europe's top leagues alongside some of the world's best footballers at the biggest clubs. They only come together with their national teams to compete, so they already know each other's qualities and what to expect.”
Eguavoen also suggested that the 2026 competition may not necessarily be won by one of the usual football superpowers.
“I wouldn't be surprised if one of the traditional football powerhouses doesn't win the tournament. They might, or they might not, because I believe every top team now has an equal chance.”
Africa's belief is rooted in recent World Cup history. At the 2022 tournament in Qatar, Morocco produced the greatest campaign ever by an African nation, finishing fourth after defeating Belgium in the group stage and eliminating both Spain and Portugal in the knockout rounds.
The Atlas Lions became the first African and Arab nation to reach a World Cup semi-final, proving that teams from the continent can compete with and defeat elite opponents on football's biggest stage.
Before Morocco's historic achievement, Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana had all reached the quarter-finals. Cameroon stunned defending champions Argentina in the opening match of Italia '90 before advancing to the last eight. Senegal defeated reigning champions France at the 2002 World Cup and also reached the quarter-finals, while Ghana came within a penalty kick of the semi-finals in South Africa in 2010 before losing dramatically to Uruguay.
Nigeria have also enjoyed memorable World Cup moments. The Super Eagles reached the Round of 16 in 1994, 1998 and 2014, with their debut campaign in the United States particularly impressive as they topped a group that included Argentina and Bulgaria.
