It’s a first in World Cup history that nine out of ten African teams have qualified for the round of 16. When asked about this achievement, Senegal’s coach, Pape Thiaw, didn’t hesitate to highlight the progress of African football and to particularly congratulate the DRC, who qualified for the first time.
“I think that today, Africa has shown that when it has opportunities, it seizes them. Usually, we had 5 teams at the World Cup. Today, we have 10. In the round of 32, there are 9. We shouldn’t envy anyone. I think it’s a matter of hard work.
And when you see that in African teams, we are coached by Africans, sons of the soil, it means we are well-trained. We have the human resources and we have good players. So we must congratulate the African teams. And I also want to congratulate the DRC, which went elsewhere to qualify and become the tenth African team,” declared the Senegalese coach.
Drawn in the same group as Senegal, the DRC finished second after a solid group stage. They then achieved the feat of eliminating Nigeria and Jamaica in the playoffs, thus securing their place at the World Cup after a 52-year absence.
With 4 points from the group stage, the DRC qualified for the round of 16, where they will face England. A historic step that the Leopards approach with the hope of continuing to cause an upset in this competition.
