The Biggest Sporting Upsets by African Teams Ever
Yesterday, Brazil’s men’s national team was stunned by an incisive Senegalese side in a friendly in Portugal that ended 4-2. After being knocked down by a Lucas Paqueta header in the 11th minute, Senegal regained the game with a Habib Diallo volley before Marquinhos scored an own goal to give Senegal the lead they never lost. Sadio Mane scored twice, which put a Marquinhos strike into the right goal. While the performance was a friendly, it reminded us of some big sporting upsets in Africa that we highlight in this article.
Nigeria’s Gold in Atlanta (1996)
Winning the Olympic gold medal in soccer in 1996 is undoubtedly one of the greatest sporting moments in African history and undoubtedly number one in Nigerian sporting history.
When Nwankwo Kanu led the ‘Dream Team’ in 1996, expectations were high for the team but a gold medal seemed nowhere in sight and the start to the group stage, in which Nigeria prevailed on goal difference, was not particularly encouraging.
The real magic of the run began in the semi-finals as Nigeria faced a Brazilian side who had beaten them in the group stage and featured rising stars like Ronaldo de Lima and Bebeto. After a 3-1 defeat, the Dream Team drew 3-3 and then won by scoring a golden goal in extra time after a goal from Captain Kanu.
In the final, a star-studded Argentinian side like Diego Simeone and Hernan Crespo took a 2-1 lead, which was wiped out by goals from Daniel Amokachi and an injury-time winner from Emmanuel Amunike.
Morocco’s Inspirational Run in Qatar (2022)
Reducing Africa’s biggest run at the World Cup to one game would be criminal, so we won’t even try. Morocco’s fairytale run at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was what sport is all about. On their way to fourth place, they beat higher-ranked teams like Belgium, Portugal and Spain in one of the most entertaining runs by an African team ever.
Cameroon beats Maradona’s Argentina at the World Cup (1990)
Argentinian star and best player in the world at the time, Diego Maradona led his country to the 1990 World Cup in Italy as defending champions.
In Argentina’s opening match against a second-time FIFA World Cupâ„¢ team, Argentina’s favorites at the tournament, Argentina went out after a second-half header from Francois Omam-Biyik gave Cameroon the lead while they were already a man down a red card. In the minutes after that goal, Cameroon were sent off again but ultimately managed to keep Argentina and Maradona goalless.
Argentina continued to put in a great run and made it to the final, but the opening game will always be remembered by any adult.
Senegal beats defending champions France at the World Cup (2002)
The then world champions were also left behind when France faced Senegal in South Korea and Japan at the start of the 2002 tournament.
Despite being manned by some of the best players in the world and confident that victory would be theirs, the French side were shocked by Papa Bouba Diop’s 30th-minute goal that gave Senegal a lead many expected had that they would screw up on his World Cup debut.
France lost in the group stage, while Senegal reached the quarter-finals, following directly in Cameroon’s footsteps after 1990.
The Springboks Magical Run at the Rugby World Cup (1995).)
In one of the greatest moments in the history of the sport, the South African national rugby team made their World Cup debut in 1995 when the newly democratic country hosted the tournament. Having missed the first two World Cups in 1987 and 1991 due to anti-apartheid sports boycotts, winning the tournament was extremely impressive. President Nelson Mandela presented the Springbok-shirted trophy to Captain Francois Pienaar, a white African, and the gesture was seen as a major step in reconciliation between black and white South Africans.