Confederation of African Football president Dr Patrice Motsepe believes an African side is closer than ever to winning the World Cup and is “confident” the continental will be able to celebrate a winner in the future.
Nine of the 10 African nations who participated in the 2026 finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada reached the last 32, with Morocco ousted the quarterfinals by France and as they made the last eight for the second successive edition.
“Significant progress and successes were achieved by the African teams at the FIFA World Cup 2026 and I am very proud of their performances,” Motsepe told reporters in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
“We have also identified specific areas where there is room for improvement and I am confident that the coaches, technical teams and players will implement the necessary improvements.
“CAF will be hosting a conference and will invite the national team coaches, technical teams, former African national team players and other football experts and stakeholders to evaluate and assess the performances of the teams at the World Cup, with the objective of making recommendations that will ensure that the teams will be even more successful in 2030.
“We will continue to train and invest in our boys and girls football players, amateur football, professional football leagues and our national teams in each of the 54 African countries to make our football globally competitive and among the best in the world.”
Motsepe says CAF has increased funding for coaches and will continue to do so in the coming years.
“CAF is increasing its funding for the training of coaches at all levels and will be conducting numerous coaching training courses in each of the six CAF Zones on the continent.
“CAF is also focusing on increasing the quality and competitiveness of the CAF African Schools Football Championship as this is an important platform and initiative for the development and growth of African Youth Football.
“We remain confident that an African nation will be Champions of the FIFA World Cup.”
