Tactical naivety and the absence of a competitive culture accompany the failures of African teams.

The 32nd round of the World Cup witnessed a disappointing exit for many African teams, the latest being the Algerian national team, amid experts confirming that "the lack of tactical maturity" was behind this; while the African continent is currently relying on the "Atlas Lions" and the remaining African teams.

African teams, except for Morocco, recorded varying negative results in the 32nd round of the 2026 World Cup; as South Africa, Ivory Coast, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Algeria were eliminated after losing to Canada (1-0), Norway (2-1), Belgium (3-2), England (2-1), and Switzerland (2-0) respectively.

Three African matches remain undecided in this round, where Egypt faces Australia, Ghana meets Colombia, and Cape Verde clashes with the defending champion Argentina, to determine the last qualification spots for the round of 16.

Hassan Atter, a local coach, believes that "all African teams performed well in this competition, except for the Tunisian team which was eliminated in the first round. However, what is criticized about African teams in general is the football naivety and the lack of a culture of major competitions among the players, which leads to wasting their efforts," as he expressed.

Atter added in a statement to Hespress: "It is unreasonable for teams like Senegal, Congo, or Ivory Coast to be superior and in good conditions for 85 minutes or more, only to be eliminated in the last quarter of an hour. This confirms the lack of players with maturity and high experience in managing and handling the critical moments of matches."

Regarding the Cape Verde team remaining in the competition alongside Egypt and Ghana, the speaker expects them to deliver a good match and be at the level, but fears that their lack of experience in big matches may lead them to the same fate as Senegal, Ivory Coast, South Africa, and Congo due to the absence of someone to decide the match.