No Longer Naïve: African Football’s Growing Impact at the World Cup

No Longer Naïve is an in-depth look at the history of African soccer at the game's greatest showcase event.

As soccer grew globally over the 20th century and the World Cup became the zenith of the sport internationally, Africa was left trailing, both through a lack of organization and exclusion by the powers that be. In 1974, Africa's 'best' team, Zaire, were humiliated on the world stage, creating a negative perception of African soccer. Teams from Africa were often labelled naïve in their approach, but gradually African nations repaired their reputation. This led to increased participation, vastly improved players and famous victories over the world's best - culminating in the tournament being hosted on the continent for the first time in 2010. However, while great strides have been made on the pitch, greed, in-fighting, violence and the whiff of corruption behind the scenes have undermined progress. African sides are no longer naïve, but are we any closer to seeing a team from Africa lift the World Cup?