Kalusha Bwalya: Africa must capitalized on World Cup expansion

Kalusha Bwalya has warned that the FIFA World Cup will be a formidable challenge for African teams, but he believes the continent has fresh grounds for optimism as the tournament expands.

With more African nations set to participate than ever before, the odds of producing surprise results and leaving a mark on the global stage have improved.

South Africa’s Bafana Bafana will join Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Ivory Coast, and Ghana at the 2026 World Cup.

Speaking to SABC Sport, the 1988 African Footballer of the Year highlighted how the expanded format could tilt opportunities in Africa’s favour.

“Of course, we always stand a better chance, it’s not like with us, when we used to play there used to be two teams in the 80’s, and then a little bit later, it was three teams in the 90’s,” said Bwalya.

“Now it has been five years since 2006, if my memory serves me right, or is it 2002? So the difference is that we are always going to play against good teams across the world.”

He added that the tournament draw can be both promising and tricky for African sides.

“If you look at the draw for the African teams, it’s favourable and sometimes looks unfavourable because all the African teams are in a group with maybe one European team, and probably a South American team, and then probably an Asian team.”

Bwalya, closely following Bafana Bafana, hopes coach Hugo Broos’ squad can rise to the occasion in a group featuring hosts Mexico and South Korea.

“I also hope Bafana will be up to the task when they do play against Mexico, and then of course South Korea and they’re waiting for one of the other teams [Czech Republic or Denmark], which many people think could be Denmark,” he added.

“But you need a favourable result against a European team, and preferably a draw, and then you have to kill the other teams, whether they’re coming from Asia or CONCACAF, because I think the South American teams are very strong.”