Sadly, the Bafana Bafana will not be attending the 2018 World Cup in Russia this summer, as the host nation from 8 years ago missed out in the qualifiers. However, that does not mean that it\u2019s all doom and gloom for the continent. The impact of African players is currently enjoying yet another boom period as African football goes from strength-to-strength. With that in mind, whom can we expect to be the last nation standing this summer?<\/p>\n
For an overlook of the World Cup Outrights<\/a>, let us start with Egypt. Drawn favourably into Group A, the Pharaohs will need to overcome the hosts, Russia, as well as Saudi Arabia and Uruguay. Managed by Hector Cuper, Egypt possess the continent\u2019s player of the year, its oldest player (goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary at 45), and its most outstanding star, Mohamed Salah of Liverpool, who now looks\u00a0likely to be fit following a shoulder injury<\/a>\u00a0he picked up in the Champions League final. In Egypt\u2019s toughest match, Salah, the current darling of Liverpool\u2019s Kop, will be pitted against the former Liverpool idol, Uruguay\u2019s Luis Suarez, in what will be an intriguing battle. During qualifying, Salah scored a stunning 71% of his country\u2019s goals, including finding the net twice in a 2-1 win over Congo that sent the North Africans into their first finals since 1990, with a game to spare. His form, plus being in a relatively weak group, could mean that Egypt might end up playing in the second round of their third-ever FIFA World Cup.<\/p>\n They say every tournament has a \u201cgroup of death\u201d, and, sadly for Morocco, that is where they find themselves. The Atlas Lions have landed in a tough-looking World Cup Group B that contains Iran, Portugal, and\u2014one of the pre-tournament favourites\u2014Spain. Unfortunately for Morocco, which is the only African team to qualify for Russia without conceding a goal, it is unlikely-at-best that they\u2019ll win against the Portuguese. And they can forget entirely about beating Spain, so, save for a potentially pride-boosting result against Iran, it very much looks like Morocco will be one of the first teams to go. A seasoned campaigner, Herve Renard certainly has his work cut out for him in order to avoid such an outcome, and he will be looking to star man Medhi Benatia of Juventus to keep his side in the tournament. The defender banked a vital goal against the Ivory Coast back in November\u2019s qualifying matches, and, with more than 50 caps for his country, his experience will be vital to everything Morocco do.<\/p>\n As for Nigeria, they come into the tournament as the lowest-ranked African nation and have been handed ties against Croatia, Iceland and Leo Messi\u2019s Argentina that they must overcome in order to progress. On the positive side, The Super Eagles have every right to expect a victory against Iceland and are more than capable of giving the Croatians a scare, too. However, it is Argentina that will be giving German coach Gernot Rohr sleepless nights as the tournament draws ever closer. Chelsea Wingback Victor Moses was voted Nigeria’s Player of the Year back in February, but he is unlikely to be impactful enough to get them out of this group, even if aided by Arsenal\u2019s Alex Iwobi and skipper Mikel John Obi Mikel.<\/p>\n North African side Tunisia are the highest-ranked of the continent\u2019s sides in Russia, and they are attending their first FIFA World Cup in 12 years. They, too, are cursing the fates after drawing another of the tourney\u2019s tougher pots, which features both Belgium and England. Nabil Maaloul\u2019s men are led by Sunderland midfielder Wahbi Khazri, who looks set for a change of position, since an injury to forward Youssef Msakni up top has left them short on firepower. Panama make up the numbers in Group G, and they look to be the most likely route to any points for Tunisia, as they are also likely to make an early departure.<\/p>\n After Egypt, Senegal look the most likely to progress from their group (Group H), as there are surely points available for them to pick up from the likes of opponents Poland, Colombia and Japan. Another side bolstered by a Liverpool player, Senegal\u2019s star man is Sadio Mane, who was the runner-up for this year\u2019s African Player of the Year (having come in second to his Egyptian teammate).<\/p>\n