In the last match of the group stage of the 2018 World Cup, Ambaye Niang, a striker for Senegal, received a yellow card.
The minute was 51, the foul was unnecessary, but this yellow was particularly significant.
Since Senegal finished the group stage with the same number of points and the same goal difference as Japan, the next category that determined who would join Colombia in the round of 16 was the amount of yellow cards.
And Niang's card, his second of the tournament, saw Japan progress to the last 16, while Senegal went home for one too many fouls.
Niang's yellow card was the harsh final chord for his team, and for the entire black continent in Russia 2018. Like Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia, Senegal also ended the tournament in the group stage.
For the first time since 1982, no African team qualified for the next stage.
According to the early estimates of many, this is not how African football was supposed to end the World Cup in 2018 thanks to respectable performances such as those of Tunisia in the 1978 World Cup, in which it defeated Mexico and ended in a draw with Germany;
Morocco in 1986 preceded England, Poland and Portugal in the early house;
And especially for Cameroon, which in 1990 opened the tournament with a victory over the world champion Argentina and stopped only in the quarter-finals with a loss in extra time to England, many football people predicted a great and significant success of an African team in the near and less near future.
Pele, the Brazilian legend, determined at the time that by the year 2000 an African team would be crowned world champion.
In "Bleacher Report", an American sports website, an article was published in 2013 that explains why by 2022 the African national teams will be at the top of soccer.
Well, as we see, the prophecies did not come true.
Not only that the national teams from the Black Continent did not take over football, it can be said that they even faded away.
With the exception of Senegal 2002 and Ghana 2010, no African team in this millennium has passed the round of 16 in the World Cup.
In the games held in Russia, as mentioned, all five were eliminated in the group stage, while in Brazil 2014 only Nigeria and Algeria continued to the last 16 and stopped there.
It is understandable why Pele and others predicted great African success at the World Cup.
From an individual point of view, the African continent is full of Sharon, as evidenced by players such as George Wah, Samuel Eto'o, Didier Drogba, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, Kanu, Roja Mila and many others - all from the top of world football.
Today you can find representatives of African football in every team and in every league in Europe, the result of scouts spread across the continent and collecting the hidden diamonds.
Senegalese players with the Africa Cup in 2022, photo: AP
The raw talent of African football is known to all, and it is reflected in the young teams, where the business is still not completely polished.
In the World Under-20 Championship, known as the "Mondialito", there is already an African champion Ghana (2009) and two runners-up from Nigeria (1989 and 2005), Mali, Egypt, Morocco and Senegal also visited the semi-finals.
In many respects, it seems that African football has all the tools to succeed in a big way and fulfill the predictions of the experts, but in many other respects, African football is lacking and therefore remains empty-handed.
"First of all they will pass the group stage"
It is no secret that the main problem of Africa is the economic matter.
According to one of the latest studies of the world's population, and according to the gross national income per capita, 9 of the 10 poorest countries in the world are in the Black Continent.
And without money it's hard to move forward, it's hard to develop, it's hard to realize the potential.
In this place there is corruption and lack of professionalism.
"With us, politics is too involved in what happens in football," former Congo national team footballer Gabriel Zakuani admitted in an interview with "Al Jazeera", "these things are not always taken care of before a World Cup, and then you pay for it during the tournament."
Another issue is the talent drain.
The migration from Africa to Europe took with it many young players, strengthened other national teams and significantly weakened the countries of origin.
Those who remain in Africa suffer from inferior facilities and resources, parasitic depositors who take the money for themselves, and improper conduct.
It is no coincidence that national teams like Nigeria, Cameroon and Ghana failed to convert the potential into actual success.
And there is also the sporting matter: Africa, out of its 54 countries, receives only 5 tickets to the World Cup.
And that's just from the 1998 World Cup. Europe, with 55 countries, gets 13 tickets, while South America, which only has 10 teams, gets 4.5 tickets (one goes to the playoffs).
This arrangement makes the African qualifiers particularly difficult, and those that make continuity and development difficult.
Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria and Ivory Coast - all champions of the continent this millennium - will not be in Qatar.
"It's not fair," said South African team coach Hugo Bruce, "it's much easier for a good European team to reach the World Cup than for a good African team."
And here, five African teams will arrive in Qatar - Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal, Cameroon and Ghana - all determined to put themselves and the continent on the map.
This time too, there is no lack of excellent players - Kalidou Coulibaly in Senegal, Mohamed Kodos and Inike Williams in Ghana, Hakim Zeich in Morocco, Andre Frank Zambo Angisa in Cameroon, and more - and this time there are no shortage of expectations either.
"The African national teams have prepared well, and they come ready," said former Nigerian national team player Emmanuel Amenika, "but first of all let them get through the group stage and then think about the semi-finals. It is important to move forward step by step."
According to Zakwani, "all the African women are capable of giving a serious fight, but Senegal will be the big surprise and will reach the semi-finals."
If it does happen, and one of the African teams breaks the glass ceiling and passes the quarter-finals, it will probably be possible to say two contradictory things: it was expected, and it happened against all odds.
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