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The Road to the World Cup 2026 Ep3 - The Confederation Africaine de Football
2 Plays14 days ago
Join Ken Davies and Nick Britten for your definitive guide to all things World Cup 26
Each week we'll take the deepest of dives into everything leading up to kick off in June 2026.
If you want to be the water-cooler expert in all things World Cup - you've just found your favorite podcast. In this episode, Ken and Nick take a deep dive into CAF, looking at what it is, how qualification is going, the best and worst teams, a focus on Sudan and the strange case of Equatorial Guinea.
World Cup 2026 will be a Festival of football - with 48 teams completing for the ultimate prize - 104 matches over 56 days - with all the excitement, romance and jeopardy that the World Cup always brings - but on a much bigger scale.
Hosted in Mexico, Canada and the US - It's the pinnacle of the global soccer calendar
Email the show with your questions at : roadtoworldcup26@gmail.com
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast & Hosts
00:00:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hello then, and a very good day to wherever you are in the world. You're listening to the Road to the World Cup 2026, bringing you a deep, deep, and a really deep dive into all things World Cup ahead of the tournament next year.
00:00:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
This podcast is brought to you by the Global Sports Podcast Network, bringing you daily soccer content from the English Premier League, women's football. There's cricket now. There's more. There's more stuff happening all the time.
00:00:39
Global Sports Podcast Network
Search Global Sports Podcast Network for your favorite team. It's the daily something or other. Daily Arsenal, daily Newcastle, daily Palace, whatever your team is. They're all over Spotify and Apple.
00:00:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
My name is Nick Britton, and today I am joined as ever by the Welsh wizard, Ken Davis, who is neither Welsh nor a wizard, but he is a Wrexham fan, so that kind of counts.
00:01:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
um He's not at GSB in town today. It's a bit of a lonely place. I'm here on my own, but joins us from a hotel somewhere in the world. Ken, great to see you. The sun looks like it's shining. Where are you?
00:01:13
Ken Davies
I am actually sitting 78 miles from Africa. 78, just 78 miles from Africa. and Now, that sounds like I'm in some village somewhere. I'm not. I'm in...
00:01:27
Ken Davies
I'm in Arrecife, the capital of Lanzarote, having a bit of a-a-r-a. But I was looking on the map this morning as we started to do think about the CAF, the Africaine de Foucault.
00:01:43
Ken Davies
To give it its French pronunciation, that's where CAF comes from. And I'm only 78 miles away from Africa, so I feel like I'm doubly qualified to talk about all things CAF-related.
00:01:53
Global Sports Podcast Network
court you're you're in us As we say in the media, you're almost on location, reporting reporting on location. ah so So we expect a little bit extra.
00:02:00
Ken Davies
yeah Give me a couple of hours. I can be.
00:02:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
a little A little bit
CAF World Cup Qualification Process
00:02:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
extra. Okay, so during today's show, we're going to have a look, as we do, at what is what is the federation. We're going to have a look at the qualifying teams, how that's going. We're going to have a look at the best of the worst teams. And then, as always, a bit of a sideways swipe of everything that's happening in the African confederation. But let's get into what actually is the the whole kind of the whole qualifying bit around ah Africa, what's happening. Ken, over to you.
00:02:34
Ken Davies
I'll take you through all the weeds. I'll take you through everything in terms of structure so you know exactly how it's all feeding into the World Cup when it kicks off in America and Canada and Mexico.
00:02:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you.
00:02:46
Ken Davies
So CAF have been allocated nine spots in the FIFA World Cup and one spot in the Inter-Confederation Playoff Tournament where we remember from a couple of weeks ago, six teams end up playing for two spots, but we'll come back to that in a second.
00:03:06
Ken Davies
So rather fortunately, CAF, the Confederation Africaine de Football, which I love saying, there are 54 member associations, 54 member countries a in CAF that form FIFA, which when you've got nine spots allocated, that makes the maths quite simple.
00:03:30
Ken Davies
Because if you have nine groups of six teams, hey presto, there's 54 slots. And therefore, the winner of each of the groups automatically progresses to the World Cup proper. Couldn't have been simpler.
00:03:46
Ken Davies
So that's where the nine qualifiers are going to come from. If you win your group, you're going to Mexico, America and Canada. But there is that little twist at the end. is All the teams who finish second, the top four of them go into a little playoff, which one team emerges from, and that team goes into the global qualification process for a couple of these random places at the end. So I hope that's as clear as I can make it. The nine winners of the groups go there automatically, and then there's one that goes into the ah goes into the qualification process. Now, worth remembering,
00:04:26
Ken Davies
In 2022, just seems like yesterday in Qatar, CAF only had five participants. So there's a major change going on in African football in relation to the World Cup.
00:04:39
Ken Davies
Essentially, CAF could double their number of participation in 2026 to 10. There'll definitely be nine, and there could well be 10. The five that were there in 2022 were Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia.
00:04:55
Ken Davies
And it's just worth remembering, ah African nations are becoming a huge powerhouse in relation to the World Cup. In 2022, Morocco finished fourth they They were beaten by Croatia in third place playoff, but they won their group and they won their group above Croatia, Belgium, who were much fancied and Canada.
00:05:18
Ken Davies
They beat Spain, they beat Portugal, and they lost to France, who obviously went to the final, in the semi-finals.
00:05:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'm sorry.
00:05:25
Ken Davies
By far the best performance of any African team in the World Cup so far. Just gives you an idea of the trajectory that African teams are on in relation to global football.
00:05:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'm sorry.
00:05:35
Ken Davies
I mean, and we all know they've got some of the greatest players in the world. So, back to 2026.
00:05:43
Ken Davies
So we have nine groups of six teams.
00:05:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
sorry. I'm sorry.
00:05:45
Ken Davies
i'm going to take you through each group and all the teams.
00:05:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'm sorry.
00:05:48
Ken Davies
One of the reasons I do that is that we want to make sure every single team involved in any qualification in this World Cup gets a
CAF Qualifiers Breakdown & Team Performances
00:05:54
Ken Davies
mention on this podcast.
00:05:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yes, are watching.
00:05:54
Ken Davies
So we're going to go through them all. So it goes through from... Group A to Group I. So that gives you nine groups. Group A, Egypt, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Djibouti.
00:06:09
Ken Davies
Group B is Sudan, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo, South Sudan and Mauritania. Group C, Benin, Rwanda, South Africa, Lithoto, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.
00:06:23
Ken Davies
In D, Cape Verde, little island off of Africa. Cameroon, Libya, Angola, Mauritius and Estwatimi. In Group E, it's Morocco, Niger, Tanzania, Zambia, Congo and Eritrea.
00:06:38
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'm not
00:06:40
Ken Davies
I'm going to come back to Group because there's stuff going on. Group F, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Burundi, Kenya, Gambia and the Seychelles.
00:06:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
what doing. sure you're doing. I'm
00:06:48
Ken Davies
In Group G,
00:06:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
what you're I'm not sure what doing.
00:06:51
Ken Davies
Mozambique, Algeria, Botswana, Guinea, Uganda and Somalia.
00:06:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
not what doing. I'm sure doing.
00:06:55
Ken Davies
In Group H, it's Tunisia, Namibia, Liberia, Malawi, Equatorial Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe.
00:06:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
doing.
00:07:04
Ken Davies
And finally in Group I, it's Madagascar, Ghana, Comoros. Mali, Central African Republic and Chad. So they are the 54 teams.
00:07:16
Ken Davies
There's some stuff going on which we'll come to that means not all 54 teams are going to have any chance of qualifying. But and the they're the nine groups. Top of those nine groups automatically qualify.
00:07:27
Ken Davies
And then we have a little bit of a playoff to see who goes into the qualification process for the remainder. So that's the Confédération Africaine de Fauxport.
00:07:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you very much, Kim. Thank you very much. Fascinating stuff. Well, qualification started last year. um And in fact, it's just kicking off again. there have been a couple of games in the last 48 hours.
00:07:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
How is it all going? Well, it's going pretty much as you might expect. So the big teams here, the teams to look really to look out for, so you're looking at Ivory Coast, you're looking at Morocco, Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, these these teams who are really well-known in football and who are making...
00:08:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
As Ken just said there a moment ago, making real progress on the world stage. Well, they're all they're all doing pretty well, ah other than perhaps Nigeria, who are struggling. We'll come to those in just a moment. But Egypt topped the group, as as you might expect.
00:08:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah Ivory Coast did top the group, their group, until... until ah ah just yesterday when Gabon beat Seychelles 3-0, so they're top. ah But obviously they've played a game more ah than the Ivory Coast.
00:08:32
Ken Davies
Thank you.
00:08:37
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah Morocco are doing well. Cameroon are doing well. The only ones who who who there's real jeopardy around at the moment, I think, are Nigeria, um who are just doing poorly.
00:08:50
Global Sports Podcast Network
They're just doing really, really poorly. ah in ah In a six-team group, they are fifth. They haven't won a game yet, having played four in qualification. So the record so far is played four, won zero, drawn three, lost one. They've got three points from four games.
00:09:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
um And in context, ah Benin have played five games, because they've played in the last 24 hours, and they've got eight points. So Nigeria have got a bit of work to do here if they're going to qualify.
00:09:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
um And they are one of the big heavyweights, really, of African football on the world stage. So we're going to keep a really close eye on that and see how that pans out. The qualification process is really only now you sense starting to hot up. There are some good games ah coming up. um Tunisia, I think, you know, they they look well set as well. They beat Liberia on Wednesday. They've got a record of played 5-1-4, drawn one. So 13 points.
00:09:43
Global Sports Podcast Network
they They not only top their group, but they've got more points than anybody, anybody so far in the whole of competition. ah So well done to them. But today, later on today, we've got some really, really good games.
00:09:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
The Ivory Coast travel to Burundi. Now, this is a big game because of the yeah Ivory Coasters, we were saying, had topped the group. They're now second. But Burundi are doing really well because they sit in third and they're only three points behind them. So if Burundi win that, that could throw, you know, a little bit of jeopardy.
00:10:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah in terms of Ivory Coast qualification, or automatic, I should say, automatic qualification hoax. So that's an interesting game to keep an eye on later on today. Egypt travel to Ethiopia.
00:10:27
Global Sports Podcast Network
That should be a more straightforward affair, you think. But a real, I think the game of the day, if you like, is Nigeria, who travel to Rwanda. Now, that is a must-win game.
00:10:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
That is a must-win game for rwanda sorry for Nigeria, as we say. And it won't be easy because Rwanda have their own qualification ambitions here. They sit second in the group, seven points from four games.
00:10:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
It won't be an easy game. and and But Nigeria, have've got to get they've got to start winning games. or they're going to find themselves out of this competition ah before it's even begun.
00:11:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
So qualification is chugging along quite nicely. It's all going pretty much to plan. ah Top scorers so far have been Mo Salah and Trezeguet, both from Egypt, who have scored five goals each.
00:11:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
and and And certainly as we come to looking at some of the better teams in this competition, ah We do expect Egypt to be up there. So it's pretty interesting stuff so far, Ken, and things going, as I say, fairly to plan, as we would expect.
00:11:32
Ken Davies
Yeah, it's very interesting interesting to watch the Nigerian experience because, i mean, they're 44th in the world. i mean, they are a powerhouse. You know, we're talking about a... ah a 48-team World Cup, you'd expect in Nigeria to find their way there. I don't think they will. i think I think they've put themselves right behind the eight ball. We'll come to our predictions a little bit later in terms of who who will get through ah to the World Cup proper. I can't see Nigeria making it, but you're right. Today's a really important game.
00:12:03
Ken Davies
ah Yeah, just looking at the world rankings, it's worth just giving giving some detail on that. There are seven teams from CAF who are in the top 50. So, yeah, and in a normal experience, you'd expect those teams to get make it through to the World Cup. They are Morocco, fourteen ah Senegal, we haven't mentioned their decent team. I'm watching Senegal closely. Of course, you've got Sadio Mane and people like that playing for him.
00:12:31
Ken Davies
Egypt, obviously powerhouse. Some great, great players. They're 33rd. Algeria, 37th. Nigeria, 44th. They're in real treachery.
00:12:43
Ken Davies
ah Côte d'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, 46th. And the Cameroon, 49th. So they are... like You know, it's a proper, proper teams. And those teams tend to be progressing up the FIFA rankings over time.
00:12:59
Ken Davies
Their performance in the World Cup seems to be suggesting that way.
00:13:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
and
00:13:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I think when you, I mean, you've highlighted they're the best teams and they're the teams that we expect to, we expect to do well. um You know out of those two, I think I'll probably look also, know, particularly at the Ivory Coast and Egypt, who I think are, I mean, Ivory Coast, ah they they're the current African Cup of Nations holders.
00:13:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
They've got, they seem to have real momentum behind them and I would expect them to not only reach the World Cup, but do very well. um And when you, you know, and Egypt as well, when you have a look at some of the players Egypt have got,
00:13:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
you that they they should be doing almost, they should be higher in the rankings, you feel. They should be higher in the rankings than they are.
00:13:39
Ken Davies
Yeah.
00:13:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
I mean, you look at Players like Mo Salah, Omar Mamouche, who's now really making his name in the Premier League.
00:13:45
Ken Davies
yeah
00:13:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
You've got Trezeguet. ah You've got players like Mohamed El-Mene, who Arsenal fans will be very familiar with. Even players like Sam Morsi, who's playing the Premier League with Ipswich Town.
00:14:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
there are some There are some big players in there for Egypt. And I think it will be very interesting to see how they get on you know in the next year or so. Obviously, we've got the African Cup of Nations coming up.
00:14:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
and as well. And and it's just... yeah I think they'll do well. I think you're right, Ken. I think you're right. And I wonder if, you know, 2026 is going to be a real breakthrough year for the African nations at a World Cup.
00:14:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
Because, as you say, from five teams to a guaranteed nine from the previous World Cup to this week, this World Cup might be ten, depending on how the qualification goes for the playoffs.
00:14:24
Ken Davies
i think it will
00:14:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
um it's It's time, isn't it? It's time that we really started seeing African teams regularly progress to the final stages of these World Cup competitions.
00:14:49
Ken Davies
No question.
00:14:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
that
00:14:50
Ken Davies
Best player in the Premier League is an African player. some of the best players in the European leagues are African players. ah what What we're going to see, I think, over the course of the next few years is the talent being ah being managed in an effective way.
00:15:07
Ken Davies
And that's going to absolutely promote the growth of and and promote the rankings, if you like, of African teams. So i one of the things, one of the beauties of what we're doing in relation to this podcast is really getting into the deep dive of all these different ah confederations.
00:15:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you.
00:15:25
Ken Davies
You really start to see change You really start to see what what change is going to be taking place over the next 10 years in terms of world football. And Africa is going to be africa's going to be just an amazing place to report on and follow and see what happens.
00:15:41
Ken Davies
So if they're the best teams, Nick, ah who aren't qualifying for the World Cup from CAF, do we think?
00:15:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
i always We always like, don't we, we always like on the World Cup podcast, not just to focus on the good stuff. We always like to give a mention to the Minnows, to the teams who are giving it their all, doing their best, but ultimately have got no chance.
Challenges of Smaller African Teams
00:16:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
so the two arguably the two worst teams in qualification are uh the seychelles and somalia now the seychelles has got something else going for it in as much as it's a beautiful place to go on holiday um and with all due respect to somalia perhaps they can't be the same the same set for that uh but the seychelles so let's have a quick look at the both of these then um the seychelles is the smallest country in africa It's got a population of only 132,000, but it's spread across 115 islands set in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
00:16:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
You may well have gone, Ken, you're a globetrotter, you go to these luxury places, so I'm sure you've been to Seychelles at some stage.
00:16:39
Ken Davies
Never been, never been. We should do.
00:16:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
Maybe you've just flown over it instead.
00:16:42
Ken Davies
I'll go to the seashells, you go Somalia. We'll do that next week.
00:16:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, okay. 90%.
00:16:49
Ken Davies
I'm sorry.
00:16:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
I say it's been over 150 in Ireland. 90% of all Seychellians, if that's the right phrase, ah live in one place, and that is on Mahé, which is only one of eight kind of main populated islands.
00:17:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
Football-wise, they are 201st in the football ranking, so they're not the worst team in in in Africa in terms of the football ratings. That's going to come ah in just a moment. um But so they've got, so you know, they they are what they are.
00:17:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
They are what they are. They turn up, they give it a go, ah but they've never, ever qualified for a major international tournament. They've never even qualified for AFGON.
00:17:27
Ken Davies
Have they won any games this this time in the qualification process? Have they got close to winning any games this time?
00:17:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
No. They played three, lost three, um and... um I think, you know, I think that that that you can go there and go go play away at Seychelles, have a bit of a holiday, kick a ball around for a bit, win pretty comfortably.
00:17:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'll be pretty comfortable taking my under-18s team over there and having and giving them a good game. And, you know, hey-ho. They've played five games. They've lost five games and they have a goal difference of minus 23. So,
00:17:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
twenty three so
00:18:01
Ken Davies
Blimey.
00:18:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah
00:18:02
Ken Davies
That's good attention coming back from.
00:18:05
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, but listen, they don't really have any professional players, so it's not fair on them to put them up against some of these teams. ah They're all semi-pros. They're playing local leagues. yeah It's that.
00:18:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
That's what the Seychelles is when it comes to football. But we talked about Wales earlier on in the podcast. Kenny, you'll like this because there's a very strong Wales link in because one of their players, a guy called Kai Wint, is from Newport in Wales.
00:18:30
Ken Davies
right
00:18:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
And he's very recently opened up a soccer school in Newport called Absolute Ballers. to And if only the Seychelles football team were Absolute Ballers, they might be doing a bit better than they are.
00:18:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
had
00:18:45
Ken Davies
Oh, bless him.
00:18:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
So they're the second worst. They're not even the worst team. They're not even the worst team. They're really the worst team in 202 in the world rankings. that ah that goes to Somalia.
00:18:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
un'm blessing but But they have got a good good excuse, Somalia, because obviously they have had years and years and years of conflict, of civil war, of instability, and that has very much set sir set them back in terms of of being able to play football.
00:19:16
Global Sports Podcast Network
But they are actually getting better. I mean, they're a bit like Seychelles. They've never qualified for AFCON. They've certainly never qualified for the World Cup. They very rarely make it past any of the sort of qualifying rounds. And, you know, again, ah they've they've they've got kind of semi-pros. some of they Some of their players are now starting to play, to be fair, in Europe.
00:19:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
or in Middle Eastern clubs. um And in in recent times, i think it's probably fair to say in recent times, they have got a bit better. They might be challenging.
00:19:47
Ken Davies
They've got the population.
00:19:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
Seychelles, they're 201 place fairly Thank place fairly soon
00:19:52
Ken Davies
I think you're right. i think I think we're going to see Somalia in certainly the top 200. Now, of course, they've got They've got other things on their mind in soar Somalia, apart from beating the Seychelles.
00:20:05
Ken Davies
ah but But, you know, they are there's no real reason why they they they couldn't be, you know ah yeah you know, a reasonably strong FIFA-ranked team, Somalia.
00:20:16
Ken Davies
Of course, the political issues come to bear.
00:20:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah.
00:20:19
Ken Davies
We'll come to a lot of political things. There's some very interesting political questions ah that mean what we should we should visit.
00:20:24
Global Sports Podcast Network
so There are. There are. where somalia where somalia will benefit from Where Somalia will benefit from is that they have a very large diaspora.
00:20:32
Ken Davies
Yeah.
00:20:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
And that's where that's where their players are playing. So, you know, a lot of them are playing in Sweden, UK, Netherlands. They're starting to kind of start start to play there, which is obviously a higher level. And those sorts of players are now starting to represent the national team.
00:20:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
They did win in 2019. They won their first ever World Cup qualifier when they beat Zimbabwe 1-0. um And and yeah they lost the second leg, three one so they didn't go through.
00:20:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
But they won. that they did they did They did win that game. And that was a massive moment for Somali football. It was it was huge. And the domestic league is improving. It's developing. I think it's being helped, as to say, by the diaspora of players playing. So ah yeah you may be right.
00:21:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
You may be right. We may be looking at Somalia edging their way up up the rankings as we go forward. So there's a good there's a good look at the best and the worst teams in the African Federation.
00:21:18
Ken Davies
Thank you.
00:21:23
Global Sports Podcast Network
Before we move on, Ken, a word from our partners at Bionic.
00:21:28
Ken Davies
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00:21:43
Ken Davies
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00:21:55
Ken Davies
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00:22:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
There you go. And you have a unique body, Kent.
00:22:09
Ken Davies
ah ja you can see
00:22:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
Welcome back, man. You're listening to the World Cup podcast, the road to the World Cup 2026. Now, we've already had a look at some of the best teams, some of the worst teams, the the breakdown of what's going on in the Confederation and also qualifying so far. So the second part of the show...
00:22:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
We're taking a little bit of a dive into some strange things, a sideways swipe in terms of what's going
Political Interference in African Football
00:22:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
on. And there's a but we always like, don't we, we always like in in any cup competitions to label one of the groups the group of death for whatever reason.
00:22:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
um And this in some ways is actually a proper group of death ah because it's killed the hopes of some of the teams that are in it. But it's also a bit of weird goings on.
00:22:52
Ken Davies
Yeah.
00:22:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
So group E... Group E is is our pick for the group of rather weird death. And Ken's going to tell us why.
00:23:03
Ken Davies
Yeah, there's there's a couple of there's a couple of teams that are already eliminated and not eliminated purely on the basis of their non-prowess in football.
00:23:14
Ken Davies
And Group E is one group that we should focus on here. And then we'll come to something that's going on in Group H a little bit later. But in Group E, Group E is made up of Morocco, Niger, Tanzania, Zambia. Right, fine. They're great. They're just doing their thing and...
00:23:31
Ken Davies
ah competing to to get through to the World Cup. The other two teams, the Congo and Eritrea, not quite as straightforward.
00:23:42
Ken Davies
um The Congo have been suspended from Group E for alleged political interference in football. um In the sense of and we find this happening quite a lot in African football in some countries where the presidency and the government the government of these countries for some reason want to get involved in football and want to get involved in the administration of football rather than from an arm's length perspective, which is normal from a very deeply embedded perspective.
00:24:14
Ken Davies
ah So what happened was ah they were due to play Niger, but the Congo refused to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
00:24:28
Ken Davies
You might get the impression simply by the similarity of the names. The history between the Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo has and has not always been smooth.
00:24:39
Ken Davies
So because was their stadium didn't meet FIFA standards. They have to play in a different country. They play in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
00:24:52
Ken Davies
So when Congo were supposed to play away in Niger, it really meant Congo moving to the Democratic of Republic of Congo to play that game, which they were not prepared to do.
00:25:04
Ken Davies
So in that instance, ah Niger were awarded 3-0 victory. Congo ended up being suspended because of the political interference in what should have been simply a football matter. But of course, as we know from when we're talking about El Salvador and Guatemala last week, often they football has political ramifications.
00:25:30
Ken Davies
The other team in Group E, which are now no longer part of the process, ah is Eritrea. Eritrea, of course, has had its own issues in terms of its ah it's it's ongoing problems with Ethiopia.
00:25:48
Ken Davies
um But Eritrea withdrew try and prior to playing any matches. So they were drawn in the group and then said, actually, we're not going to play any. ah really because their belief was that all their players, if they went to another country to play, wouldn't come back to where it's here.
00:26:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. sorry. sorry. sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. sorry. sorry. sorry. sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
00:26:07
Ken Davies
So the the the view being they'll all seek political asylum wherever we're playing.
00:26:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
sorry. I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm sorry. I'm
00:26:13
Ken Davies
So by the time we finish the qualification process, we'll have no players.
00:26:14
Global Sports Podcast Network
sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm I'm sorry. I'm sorry. sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
00:26:19
Ken Davies
because they'll all be in Benin and Niger and the Congo and Algeria and all those other places.
00:26:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. sorry. I'm sorry. sorry. sorry. sorry. I'm
00:26:26
Ken Davies
So Eritrea said, rather than absolutely remove all our football players forever from Eritrea, we won't play in the competition.
00:26:37
Ken Davies
So there's a couple of little twists ah for Group E. We'll come to another twist in Group h in a minute. But so as as with many cases, and we're going to find this as as we go through all the different teams around the world, sometimes it isn't just about football.
00:26:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you.
00:26:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
No, and there's a chart there is a chance that Congo will come back into this.
00:26:58
Ken Davies
Yeah.
00:26:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
they're making They're making appeals to FIFA all the time. But the problem is that whilst these appeals go on, everybody else is playing football and they're just going to be running they'll just run out of time to play these qualifying games.
00:27:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
So it's looking it's looking unlikely, but they are they are making they are making appeals. So Group E then, Ken, becomes a four-horse race.
00:27:18
Ken Davies
It's a four-horse race. And to be honest, if I was sitting in Morocco's shoes, I'd be pretty happy about that. One of the quick thing on politics, I know we're going to talk a little bit more about it in a moment, but i was one of my first recollections of African nations in the World Cup was I was watching the 1974 World Cup.
00:27:40
Ken Davies
seventy four will up particularly interested in Scotland, and Zaire were in, which is now Democratic Republic of Congo. ah And they were Scotland's group ah together with Peru and Brazil.
00:27:57
Ken Davies
And I was watching the Brazil game against Zaire. Towards the end of the game, Brazil were winning, and Brazil had a free kick on the edge of the box.
00:28:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
you
00:28:06
Ken Davies
so don't know if you remember this. And everyone was lining up in the wall and the Brazilian players were deciding he was going to smack it into the top corner. And then one of the players from the wall of Zaire ran out and booted the ball away off the spot that it had been placed in for the free kick.
00:28:27
Ken Davies
And I thought at the time, what what's he doing? What is he doing? And obviously all the Brazilian players were nonplussed. No one knew what what was going on. And that that kind of stayed with me, the fact that he did that. and for we can't That can't be a rule in Zaire that you're allowed to do that. Why would someone do that?
00:28:47
Ken Davies
And it seems that the president of Zaire had warned the players, if you lose by more than four goals to Brazil, you can't come home.
00:29:01
Ken Davies
You're not coming home.
00:29:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
That's extraordinary.
00:29:03
Ken Davies
in 74 and Brazil won 3-0. and brazil won three ills
00:29:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
Oh, goodness me.
00:29:10
Ken Davies
And now we start to see why Joseph Ilunga took it upon himself to boot the ball away when Brazil were in a great position. They never scored from that free kick.
00:29:22
Ken Davies
Joseph Ilunga should have a statue in the middle of the Democratic Republic of Congo for saving all that squad, the worry of never having to come home. I thought that's a really interesting story about Zaire. There you go.
00:29:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
that's a great It's a great story. It's a great story. And the reason why we love doing this well to the i wrote to the World Cup podcast is because it's not just about the football. There's history lessons in there. There's politics lessons in there. It's just a deep dive into everything that's going on. So we hope you're enjoying yeah you hope enjoying Ken's little stories from the other side of the world.
00:29:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
It's great. Now, here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we spend a lot of time selecting our delivery platform. ah We thought we we looked around for a long, long while, did we not, Ken? And Zencaster came out the clear winner.
00:30:06
Ken Davies
We do.
00:30:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
That's who we work with. They have 4K video recording, even from your phone. They've got AI editing, which automatically removes all those ums, r's, and sadly not the rubbish that Ken comes up with half the time.
00:30:20
Ken Davies
and
00:30:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah But it's super easy. It's super easy to start a podcast. That sounds great. and And it's delivered efficiently. but So if you are ready to start telling your story and start your podcast, check out the link in the show description.
00:30:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
to find out more about Zencastr. And we work with them a lot, so ah all good there. Now, as we enter the last part of the show, ah just a couple of focuses on ah areas here. um I'm going to start with what is ah what what on the face of it looks like a really kind of depressing story, but is a story of real
Sudan's Football Amidst Civil War
00:30:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
hope.
00:30:56
Ken Davies
Nation.
00:30:56
Global Sports Podcast Network
And now I'm looking at Sudan.
00:30:56
Ken Davies
Nation. Nation.
00:31:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
Sudan football club, it's not club, is it football for team, for want of a better phrase? Um, and the effect that this is having on the people of Sudan, because this is, this is a sad story, but it's a great story, uh, at the same time.
00:31:06
Ken Davies
nations
00:31:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
Um, Sudan is one of the oldest teams in Africa. And, um, It's ranked 113 in the world. and And, you know, they've always had a good history of football. if They got going in 1936 and, you know, they've always participated. But in recent times, obviously, I think as everybody who is aware of world politics and world world news knows, um it is a country that has been torn apart by civil war to the extent that they can't even play their home games in their own country.
00:31:45
Global Sports Podcast Network
Cartoon is the capital. That's where they would play. But that is under relentless gunfire. And they yeah they actually haven't played their home games during this qualification process in Libya. and All is not well. and The Sudan War, and this is a really, really stark sort of figure here.
00:32:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
The Sudan War is considered to be the worst humanitarian disaster in modern times at the moment. And when you consider what else is going on in the world, in Ukraine and Russia, in Israel and Gaza, ah this really is a terrible situation.
00:32:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
um Since the war started, and there's been civil war rumbling in Sudan for years and years and years. And it goes on and it stops, goes on and it goes stops. The current war started in 2023.
00:32:32
Global Sports Podcast Network
11 million people since then have been displaced. There have been an estimated 150,000 deaths, including 61,000 in Khartoum State alone, which is a kind of the centre of this of this fighting.
00:32:46
Global Sports Podcast Network
um It's a really, really terrible situation. But as we often see in sport generally, sport can be a beacon of hope. and Sport can be a power ah for good.
00:32:58
Global Sports Podcast Network
And Sudan footballers are are using this. They're using this. And and they are they're doing really well in qualification when perhaps you would forgive them for, frankly, not bothering.
00:33:13
Global Sports Podcast Network
You know, they've got more important things to be worrying about. and They play tomorrow night on on on Saturday the 22nd, and they play against Senegal. And that's a game which is top v second. Ten points versus eight points. And one of the one of the most amazing things about all of this is is that, you know, Sudan, in the face of all of this,
00:33:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
are just playing good football and they're just doing really really really well um they sit top of their group which you just would not expect group b you just would not expect um they play so this is a little a little story for you here and this is a really heartwarming moment when they played sudan south sudan rather their neighbors in the world cup uh qualifier um that was in last june and the sudan and south sudan have been at war with each other you know fairly recent times but they joined together to such an extent that large large parts of the south sudan crowd joined in with the sudan national anthem as a show of unity and a show of support which is which is an amazing thing you know it really is amazing thing um
00:34:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
And you just hope, you know, you just hope that that in amongst all of this disaster and all of this war, that the Sudan footballers can bring some pride and hope back. and I'm going to end this a little bit with a quote ah from their striker, Abu Bakr Asa, who told the BBC this.
00:34:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
It is something that's constantly in our minds. Our families are affected by the war. The manager tells us always, when you're putting on the shirt, You don't just do it for your family and yourselves.
00:34:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
You do it for everyone else's family and everyone in Sudan, for your whole country to lift their spirits up. We're doing that through football, which is a beautiful thing.
00:35:11
Global Sports Podcast Network
And we know we're playing for a much bigger cause.
00:35:16
Ken Davies
Blimey. That's ah very it's it's very touching. And we've all got a we've got a soft spot for Sudan. I think we're all ah hope hoping, above hope, that su at Sudan make it to the World Cup proper.
00:35:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
but
00:35:29
Ken Davies
That will be and amazing story.
00:35:31
Global Sports Podcast Network
Thank you.
00:35:31
Ken Davies
Just a quick other thing, just to... Note on that, it's been a real measure, I think, of the African football brotherhood that Sudan have got to where they've got to because they've needed the support of other nations. So as Nick mentioned, they're playing their games in Libya. They're training in Saudi Arabia.
00:35:54
Ken Davies
The two dominant clubs in Sudan, Al-Hilal and Al-Marouk, play in the Mauritanian League to enable them to continue to play. So one of the amazing things about this, and one of the amazing things is about football, as it's brought those other nations together to say, we're going to support you to keep this going. And they've done an amazing job of doing so.
00:36:14
Global Sports Podcast Network
it's it's it's It's a so terrible story, but but but but an amazing story nonetheless, and as you say. We really hope they do well. ah Keep you a very close eye on that Sudam V versus Senegal game tomorrow.
00:36:25
Global Sports Podcast Network
ah But so before we move on to the final bit, which is predictions, um another little story, this time involving Equatorial Guinea.
Issues with National Team Compositions
00:36:32
Ken Davies
Yeah, we started this podcast, Nick, I remember is sitting there saying, we've got to keep it to half an hour. We should really try and keep this to half an hour. Here we are at 36 minutes. And the thing we find is that as soon as you get into the detail on all these confederations, you find these really interesting little snippets, these little stories which we want to share with you because we think they're interesting. We think they're worth bringing to a wider audience.
00:36:57
Ken Davies
This is the strange case of Emilio Ensue of Equatorial Guinea player. okay Now, I thought when I came across this story, I thought I recognised that name.
00:37:10
Ken Davies
And the reason I recognise that name is that he Emilio Nsui played 70 games for Middlesbrough in nineteen in twenty four change to seventy and got them into the Premier League, helped them them in the Premier League, then we was transferred to Birmingham where he played another 36 games ah in 2018. So he's a proper player and I thought I recognised him. You may recognise because you would be playing, Derby would have been playing in similar leagues.
00:37:37
Ken Davies
So Emilio Nsue is born in Spain to an Equator-Guinean father and a Spanish mother. okay So far, so good. And he played for Spain at youth level.
00:37:49
Ken Davies
Very decent player, winning the European Youth Championships, both under-19 and under-21. So he's a decent, decent player. Then it all starts to go a bit pear-shaped.
00:38:02
Ken Davies
ah Because in 2013, he made his debut for Equatorial Guinea, played in three African Cups nations in 2015, 2021 and
00:38:17
Ken Davies
the problem is Two months after he made his debut for Equatorial Guinea in 2013, FIFA told him and told Equatorial Guinea that he was ineligible to play because he wasn't Equatorial Guinean.
00:38:36
Ken Davies
And he hadn't transferred his ah nationality to Equatorial Guinea from Spain, who he'd played for. um And so they awarded Cape Verde a 3-0 victory on the basis of his ineligibility in 2013.
00:38:53
Ken Davies
That didn't stop him playing, though, for the equ for Equatorial Guinea. And again, so he played in 2015, 2021 and 2023. And in 2023, in the African Cup of Nations, he won the golden boot for being the top scorer in the in the competition.
00:39:11
Ken Davies
Yeah. And he's the top scorer for Equatorial Guinea.
00:39:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
I think important to remember that felt very close to the
00:39:16
Ken Davies
scored 22 goals in 44 appearances.
00:39:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
think of it's I it's I think it's
00:39:18
Ken Davies
He's obviously very good player, despite not having Equatorial Guinean nationality or permission to play for Equatorial Guinea.
00:39:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
think it's fun. think it's it's it's think it's think it's fun. think
00:39:29
Ken Davies
It's just gone on in some kind of bureaucratic nightmare.
00:39:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
it's fun. I think it's fun.
00:39:33
Ken Davies
He's been allowed to continue to play until 2024.
00:39:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
think it's fun.
00:39:37
Ken Davies
twenty twenty four when FIFA ruled that Nsui had been ineligible for his whole career. And he was given a playing back.
00:39:49
Ken Davies
And kind of matters in qualification in 2026, because two of the games played in 2023 were part of the 2026 qualification process. So it affects this this this World Cup.
00:40:01
Ken Davies
Now, I thought, that's... This is weird. And it seems, and I've got the word allegedly underlined three times on my notes allegedly, he was using a fraudulent Equatorial Guinea passport, which stated that he was born in Malabo in Equatorial Guinea.
00:40:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
That's fine.
00:40:23
Ken Davies
When, in fact, everyone kind of knows he was born in Palma de Mallorca in Spain. But the weird thing is, and the final thing is, this seems to be a thing in Equatorial Guinea, ah using fake passports and fake names to recruit players from all around the world to get them to play for Equatorial Guinea.
00:40:43
Ken Davies
And I'll give you an example from 2014.
00:40:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
You can see
00:40:47
Ken Davies
In the FIFA qualification match, the World Cup qualification match against Cape Verde, or seems to be Cape Verde, they called up nine Brazilian players
00:40:48
Global Sports Podcast Network
the same the of your text.
00:40:58
Ken Davies
They had nine players playing in that team from Brazil for Equatorial Guinea. And they all seem to have dodgy passports and names that no one ever knew existed.
00:41:11
Ken Davies
So they just appeared from nowhere. frog And were claimed to have Equatorial Guinea ah parenthood. But they're all, funnily enough, they're all from Brazil. ah And weirdly, both CAF and FIFA seem to turn a rather blind eye to that little story. I'm going to go dig a little bit deeper into that myself.
00:41:33
Ken Davies
But nine Brazilians were playing for Ecuador again in 2014. We've had the ensue continuation of the process. But the point being...
00:41:43
Ken Davies
Never quite trust, I don't think we're in the position to say this, at the Equatorial Guinean team sheet in terms of whether they've all been born and raised in Equatorial Guinea.
00:41:55
Ken Davies
So that's that's my little thing on Equatorial Guinea.
00:41:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
Well, that's and that's a great that is a great little thing. there is ah there's ah There's a happy ending to this story, though, is there not, Kenny?
00:42:06
Ken Davies
There is a happy ending.
00:42:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
There's a happy ending to this story. Because two weeks ago, Two weeks ago, finally, after, where are we, 2025? 13, what, 12, 13 years of this, Emilio Nsui has been officially cleared by FIFA to play for Equatorial Guinea.
00:42:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
So that now, when he pulls the shirt on, he knows that he's eligible to play and is all right and proper.
00:42:23
Ken Davies
Yeah.
00:42:30
Global Sports Podcast Network
After all these years, it took 13 years to get there.
00:42:33
Ken Davies
Yeah, it's it's an amazing story.
00:42:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
Extraordinary.
00:42:35
Ken Davies
One of the things that's embedded in my mind when I was doing this, kind of get to the details of that, was I wanted, I still want to see Any pictures of the 2014 Equatorial Guinea game against Cape Verde with the Brazilian players, watching them sing the national anthem and seeing if any of them had any any idea?
00:42:54
Global Sports Podcast Network
but Yeah.
00:42:57
Global Sports Podcast Network
I still want to have a look at that. and i might, I might see you in the lineup. The
00:43:01
Ken Davies
that's why That's why I'm here. That's what I'm doing now.
00:43:03
Global Sports Podcast Network
so
00:43:03
Ken Davies
This is a holet this is a big cover, what I've said. So anyway, that's Equatorial Guinea. I thought it was a fascinating fascinating little story.
00:43:09
Global Sports Podcast Network
very Great stuff. Great stuff. Right, before we finish then, some predictions. Let's find out from Ken ah and myself who we think is going to do well, who we is going to qualify, and who we think is going to progress as far as possible in the World Cup 2026. Ken, who's your money on in terms of qualifications then?
00:43:28
Ken Davies
I think I'm going to run down my list. Obviously, it's going to be the top top teams from each of the groups. I'm going Egypt, Senegal, South Africa, Cameroon, Morocco, Gabon, Algeria, Tunisia and Ghana.
00:43:42
Ken Davies
with all my hope and all my expectation that Sudan will make you through the qualification process. i That's just the greatest story in the football world.
00:43:53
Ken Davies
Nigeria, I think, will be left to rue their missed opportunities early in qualification.
00:43:59
Global Sports Podcast Network
Yeah, I think that's a fair that's a fair shout. I think after today, we're all looking at Sudan and we're all all our all our hopes are very much behind them to do well. um In terms then of who's going to make an impression on the tournament, um i'm kind of pinning I'm kind of pinning it on on two, really.
00:44:18
Global Sports Podcast Network
I think Ivory Coast and Egypt will be potentially the teams to watch. um as I said earlier on, Ivory Coast have got, they're just getting better and better and better. Egypt's have got a great squad um and I think they'll do extremely well. Are we expecting to see Morocco get as far as they did last time?
00:44:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
Probably not. and But it would be great to see an African nation again reach the latter stages. So I'm going for Ivory Coast and Egypt. Ken, any thoughts on that?
00:44:48
Ken Davies
The only thought I've got on that is that I didn't have Ivory Coasters actually making it through to the FIFA World Cup. ah But i suspect I suspect they'll probably get it through. They'll probably get through the qualification process.
00:45:00
Ken Davies
It'll be interesting to see. The thing is, with 54 nations, of which 20 are all pretty decent teams, all in the top 100, it's a bit of a lottery.
00:45:07
Global Sports Podcast Network
yeah
00:45:10
Ken Davies
You've got some very great very, very good teams. But I think the that That next band, I think, are really all fighting it out for a few spots.
00:45:19
Global Sports Podcast Network
They are, they are Most of all, I'm looking forward to at the finals. Probably my tip now but for winning the World Cup will be yeah Equatorial Guinea featuring Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah.
00:45:33
Ken Davies
Great. Well, hey, look, that's been... I've really enjoyed that. One of the things I didn't expect when we were starting off this podcast was du the detail we get into and the fun we'd have just researching some of this stuff.
00:45:33
Global Sports Podcast Network
Super.
00:45:46
Ken Davies
Next time, we're off to Oceania. So from going from CAF, which has got 54 members, we're going to Oceania with 11.
00:45:58
Ken Davies
And some of them are fascinating places. So I'm really looking forward to that. So I can't wait to for the next episode.
00:46:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
Excellent. Well, look, that's it for another week um Thank you very much indeed for joining us. um Talk about taking a deep dive into Oceania. Maybe the budget will allow us, Ken. We might actually go there. As soon as you seem to be recording on location, I expect you to pop up with but a snorkel and some goggles next week somewhere around the shores of yeah of New Zealand.
00:46:22
Ken Davies
It's your turn. It's your turn, Nick.
00:46:26
Global Sports Podcast Network
and So we very much hope you'll join us then. But until then, take care. Look after yourselves. Look after each other. And from Ken and goodbye.
00:46:36
Ken Davies
Come on, Sudan.
00:46:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
Perfect.