World Cup 2026: Roger Milla praises Africa’s progress despite mixed opening results

Roger Milla believes African teams have shown encouraging signs at the 2026 World Cup despite a mixed opening round of results, with only Ivory Coast and Ghana securing victories among the continent’s 10 representatives.

Africa entered the tournament with high expectations, represented by Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Algeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, South Africa and Cape Verde. After the first round of matches, however, the results were divided between promising performances and disappointing defeats.

Ivory Coast and Ghana were the only African nations to collect three points after beating Ecuador and Panama respectively. Morocco, DR Congo, Cape Verde and Egypt all picked up draws, while Senegal, Algeria, South Africa and Tunisia suffered defeats.

Former Cameroon international Roger Milla analysed the performances of the African teams in an interview with Africafoot, insisting that starting with a victory is important but warning that the competition remains long and demanding.

“It’s always good to start a competition with a win. It boosts confidence and morale. But it’s only the beginning of the tournament. It’s reassuring, because the next matches will be very difficult and decisive.

Ivory Coast has a chance of qualifying for the next round, because even with a loss or a draw against Germany, they should be able to beat Curaçao. Ghana won in the dying moments against Panama, but the upcoming matches against England and Croatia will be very tough. They’ll need to manage their remaining games in this tournament better as well.”

Milla also highlighted the performances of the African teams that earned draws, describing their displays as evidence of the continent’s growing strength.

“These were very enjoyable matches and demonstrate the rising level of African football, where most players compete in the same leagues as these superstars. Morocco achieved a good result against Brazil, one of the world’s footballing powerhouses. The Moroccans could even have won. DR Congo also held Portugal to a draw (1-1), as did Egypt against Belgium.”

The former Cameroon star also praised Cape Verde’s historic World Cup debut after holding Spain to a draw.

“Cape Verde, participating in its first World Cup, managed to hold Spain, the reigning European champions, to a draw. It could be said that Spain somewhat underestimated the Cape Verdean team, leaving several key players on the bench in the first half.

Perhaps the coach was trying to rest some of them for the upcoming matches, as the competition is very long and difficult. All things considered, Cape Verde managed to secure a point in their opening match against a Spanish team that was considered underdogs.”

However, Milla admitted that some African teams will need to quickly improve after difficult starts.

On Senegal’s defeat to France, he pointed to missed chances as a key factor.

“He had a successful first half, creating numerous chances, but unfortunately, he failed to convert them. If Senegal had scored their opportunities in the first half, they would have won the match. France then reorganized their team in the second half, and the expected hierarchy was finally respected. It must be acknowledged that France possesses talented young players, capable of creating danger at any moment.”

Milla also discussed Tunisia’s heavy defeat against Sweden and the challenge facing new coach Hervé Renard.

“Tunisia had a disastrous start to the tournament, suffering a heavy defeat against Sweden (1-5). They’ve changed coaches, but that doesn’t mean magic will happen. Hervé Renard can’t work miracles… The upcoming matches against the Netherlands and Japan will be very close. The second round will be tough, as all the teams will be fighting hard.”

With the second round of fixtures approaching, African teams will now look to build on their performances and keep their hopes of reaching the knockout stages alive.