Africa and FIFA Worldcup 2006

The year 2005 has been an enthralling twelve months for African football. Who would have thought that the continent would provide four newcomers to the World Cup in this decisive year of qualifying. Well, believe it or not Africa has four new newcomers participating FIFA Worldcup 2006 in Germany. The newcomers are Ghana,Togo,Ivory Coast and Angola. The fifth country representing Africa is Tunisia who participated FIFA Worldcup held in Korea/Japan in 2002. It is not long to go when the African teams will dominate the world football.

Ghana's journey to their first FIFA World Cup finals began with a comfortable qualifying victory over Somalia, a 7-0 success sent the Black Stars into the group stage. There they were drawn with 2010 FIFA World Cup hosts South Africa in Group 2 and after opening their campaign with a 1-0 defeat in Burkina Faso, they signalled their intent by beating South Africa 3-0 in Kumasi on 20 June 2004, a famous victory secured by goals from Sulley Ali Muntari and captain Stephen Appiah who scored 2 goals in that game. More about Ghana's road map to FIFA Worldcup follow the link above.

Togo started their campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea although they won the return leg in Lome 2-0 to reach the group stage of the qualifiers, there was little expected of them. On 5th of June 2004, an opening Group 1 defeat to Zambia appeared to set the tone for a struggle. Two weeks later everything changed 3-1 triumph over group favourites and Korea/Japan quarter-finalists Senegal proved the catalyst for an impressive unbeaten run by coach Stephen Keshi’s side.

Tunisia became the first African country to win a game at the finals of the FIFA World Cup In 1978 when they beat Mexico 3-1 in their very first group match. A 1-0 defeat against Poland in the next match and a goalless draw against defending champions Germany were not good enough to see the North Africans through to the next round, but the victory over Mexico secured the Carthages Eagles a place in the history books. As one of the five African countries who played at Korea/Japan 2002, Tunisia did not have to play in the preliminary African qualifying rounds for the 2006 finals. And under the stewardship of former French national coach Roger Lemerre, they more than lived up to their billing of favourites to reach Germany 2006. They entered the qualifying competition high on confidence having won the CAF African Cup of Nations on home soil in February 2004. In the final, Lemerre’s men beat Morocco 2-1 to lift the trophy in front of 60,000 delirious fans at the Rades stadium. ...More about Tunisia's journey to the world Cup follow the link above.

Like Senegal and China at Korea/Japan 2002 and Jamaica before them at France 98, the Elephants of Côte d'Ivoire will be one of the major novelties at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany, where they will take their bow on football's greatest stage. Following the draw for the qualifiers, no-one held out much hope for the Ivorians, such was the formidable opposition in their group in the form of Cameroon, Egypt, Sudan and Libya. The underdogs nevertheless got off to a flying start, registering four wins and only one defeat in their opening five matches, the highlight being their 2-1 victory over Egypt in Cairo. While Ivorian fans will surely never forget hearing how Cameroon's missed penalty in a Group Three qualifier allowed the Elephants through to Germany 2006. ....More about Ivory Coast's road map to Worldcup follow the link above.

At their sixth attempt, Angola have finally succeeded in qualifying for a FIFA World Cup™ finals. Having first lined up to compete for a place at football's global gathering on a July night in 1984. The Angolan national team's longing has finally been satisfied after 21 years. Drawn in Group 4 of the African Zone, Angola narrowly succeeded in snatching the sole ticket from beneath the noses of the all-powerful Nigerians. What is more, the manner in which 'Professor' Luis Oliveira Goncalves' charges negotiated their path to Germany was marked by great team spirit and resilience.