Power Ranking Africa’s five teams after the World Cup draw

Friday’s World Cup draw largely brought optimistic news for Africa’s five qualifiers for Qatar, as each of the continent’s quintet can be quietly confident about their chances of reaching the knockouts.

Certainly, avoiding Group E—containing Spain and Germany—was good news, but how are the chances of the continent’s five contenders looking now after they know which teams they’ll face in the opening round?

Arguably the weakest of the five sides heading into Friday’s draw, Tunisia only advanced past Mali—who have never before qualified for the tournament—after Moussa Sissako’s own-goal horror show in the first leg, and failed to score against the Eagles at home.

Their prospects of progression haven’t been helped too much by a tough group draw in which they’ve been pitted against France, one of the favourites, and a strong Denmark team.

The Danes proved at Euro 2020 that they’re an effective unit in a tournament environment, and with Christian Eriksen now back in the fold, they have that spark of magic as well.

The only encouragement for Tunisia is that, with either the United Arab Emirates, Australia or Peru set to be included in their group, they will be hopeful of winning a third ever match at the tournament.

There are plenty of reasons for optimism for Cameroon after a third-placed finish at the Africa Cup of Nations on home soil, followed up by a heroic playoff victory over Algeria.

Reservations remain about the makeup of the side—and the coaching credentials of Rigobert Song—but they can pack a punch in Qatar.

Unfortunately, however, their group looks tough, with Brazil having been installed as tournament favourites following the draw.

Elsewhere, Switzerland are a solid and experienced tournament side who will fancy their chances of progression, while Serbia’s firepower can expose Cameroon’s backline.

After the Selecao, the three teams are fairly balanced, but this is an Indomitable Lions team who took 70 minutes to score twice against a Comoros team without a goalkeeper, so let’s not get carried away.

The perception of the Black Stars has changed dramatically over the course of their playoff double-header against Nigeria.

No longer are they the hapless outfit who were dumped out in the opening round of the Nations Cup, but rather, heavyweights on the rise once again.

The truth is somewhere in between, and while neither Portugal or Uruguay are the force they once were, both have extensive tournament nous, while South Korea could realistically make it three defeats out of three.

However, Ghana’s mobile forwards and powerful midfield could cause trouble for each of their opponents, and of course, the revenge match with Uruguay will see the Black Stars ultra-motivated to end 12 years of hurt.

The Atlas Lions have got a better draw than in 2018, when they had to face both Spain and Portugal, although Belgium and Croatia are both still favourites to progress.

However, the pair are ageing forces—the latter will still be relying on 37-year-old Luka Modric, even though he still operates at a high level—and they are unlikely to be as successful as they have been in recent campaigns.

Morocco have a competent defence, some match-winners, and a genuine goal threat—if they can dispatch Canada and get a result against one of these two, the Last 16 could beckon.

The strongest African side heading into the competition—on the back of Nations Cup success and victory over Egypt in the playoffs—Senegal have also been handed the most favourable draw.

This makes them favourites to progress to the knockouts, and there’s even an air of expectation around the Teranga Lions as they prepare to head to Qatar.

The hosts—from Pot One—were the dream opponents to get, and while the Netherlands are a tricky prospect from Pot Two, the presence of Ecuador gives Senegal genuine hope that they can progress.