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Former Super Eagles midfielder, sunday mba has scored the representation of Africa in the FIFA World Cup 2026 high, but also admits that it can be improved.
Africa had nine automatic berths and earned an additional one in the playoffs, bringing the number to 10 countries (including a debut tournament for Cape Verde.
With the exception of Tunisia, Africa witnessed several teams (9) reach the knockout stage of the World Cup, a remarkable progress in the history of the continent.
Sharing his thoughts, Sunday Mba said that African teams have enough quality to achieve even more.
Morocco and Egypt reached the round of 16, but the Pharaohs lost to defending champions Argentina, while the Atlas Lions were eliminated in the quarterfinals by France.
“African teams have improved, but I still don’t think we have done enough,” Mba told Brila.net. “We should aim to go beyond what we have achieved because the quality is there.”
He identified game management as a crucial weakness of African teams and insists that addressing that flaw could make the difference for African teams.
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“If you watch the tournament again, you will see that many African teams lost concentration in the final minutes. They were leading the games but couldn’t finish. That is something we have to improve.”
About game management
“I kept wondering why so many African teams conceded goals at the end of games. When you’re close to the end of the game, you need concentration and composure to finish the job. That’s where we have to improve.”
On the positives for Africa, Mba said:
“Overall, I don’t think Africa had a bad tournament. We have made progress, but we have not yet reached the level we should aspire to. There is still room for improvement and we have to keep moving forward.”
