Since Egypt's participation in the 1934 World Cup, 13 different African nations have competed in the biggest tournament in international football.
As the years have gone by, and Africa (CAF) was given more qualifying slots for the final tournament, the world has been dazzled by some of the most exciting and entertaining football produced by African countries.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar has been no different, with five countries from across the continent competing. And one of them, Morocco, has made history.
The Sporting News looks at the African teams who have competed at this edition of the tournament, and the best African teams to have played at past World Cups.
MORE: Complete 2022 World Cup schedule
African teams in World Cup 2022
Morocco have stunned the world in Qatar, as they have reached the third-place playoff — becoming the first African side in history to make it this far.
Having battled past the likes of Belgium and Croatia to top their Group, they've since dumped out Spain in the Round of 16 via penalties and then won 1-0 against Portugal to take their place in the last four against France, and the record books.
After sadly falling short against Les Bleus, Morocco will be rewarded with a third-place playoff against Croatia.
And they have not been the only African team making strides in Qatar.
Although none have been able to match the Atlas Lions, Senegal bounced back from the pre-tournament setback of losing star man Sadio Mane to injury following an initial call up for the Bayern Munich attacker.
Aliou Cisse's team slipped to a 2-0 defeat to the Netherlands in their opening fixture but bounced back to make the Round of 16 before suffering a 3-0 defeat to England.
Tunisia faced a tough ask in Group D, and despite holding Denmark to a 0-0 draw, they followed that up with a 1-0 loss against Australia and an impressive 1-0 win over holders France, but that wasn't enough to see them through.
Ghana and Cameroon both failed to reach the Round of 16 after finishing fourth and third in their groups respectively. Cameroon's highlight ultimately came when they beat tournament heavyweights Brazil 1-0 in their last match.
MORE: Complete betting odds guide World Cup 2022
How the African teams qualified to World Cup 2022
The African qualifiers feature a first round for smaller nations, where the winners progress to a group stage. At the end of the group stage, the winners of each group are drawn against another country in a two-legged tie to decide who goes to the World Cup.
Morocco won their tie comfortably, defeating DR Congo 5-2 on aggregate, whilst Tunisia's 1-0 win in the first leg was enough to help them see off Mali.
The other three teams had to fight off fellow continental heavyweights in sometimes dramatic circumstances. Ghana saw off Nigeria by a single goal, whilst Senegal and Egypt's tie, went to penalties, where Mane scored the winning penalty to secure qualification.
The most drama was experienced in Algeria, where the home side thought they secured qualification with a goal in the 118th minute, before Karl Toko-Ekambi scored in the fourth minute of added-time to send the Indomitable Lions through at the expense of the likes of Riyad Mahrez.
𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋-𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄! ⏰
— CAF (@CAF_Online) March 29, 2022
🇩🇿 Algeria 1-2 Cameroon 🇨🇲
ABSOLUTE SCENES IN ALGERIA!
Karl Toko Ekambi scores with the last kick of the game to send the Indomitable Lions to Qatar!! 🦁 #WorldCup | #WCQ pic.twitter.com/uuXGkm22dF
African World Cup team FIFA rankings
The highest-ranked African side at the 2022 World Cup is Senegal, who currently sit in 18th, four places in front of Morocco in 22nd.
The Atlas Lions will most certainly see that ranking rocket post tournament after their stunning run.
Tunisia are the 30th ranked side in the world, having risen from 36 at the start of 2022.
Cameroon are currently sitting in rank number 43, falling five places from the previous rankings.
And finally, Ghana are the lowest ranked team at the 2022 World Cup, currently sitting in 61st. They are also the 11th highest-ranked team in Africa.
Best African teams in World Cup history before 2022
Whilst no African teams have ever won or made a World Cup final, four teams had previously made the quarterfinals before Morocco achieved the feat this year.
Cameroon were the first to do so in 1990, when led by Roger Milla they defeated world champions Argentina in the opening game before qualifying for the round of 16 with a negative goal difference. They defeated Colombia in the first knockout round before losing to England.
Debutants Senegal shocked the world when they not only defeated world champions France in the opening match of the 2002 edition, they then went on to top their group. They then defeated Sweden thanks to a golden goal, before Turkey bundled them out with a golden goal of their own.
Ghana then repeated the feat after defeating the USA in the round of 16 in South Africa. This pitted them against Uruguay in the quarterfinals when one of the most controversial World Cup moments occurred.
With the scores locked at 1-1 near the end of extra time, Uruguay's Luis Suarez used his hands to deny a certain goal on the line, only for Asamoah Gyan to miss the resulting penalty that would have put them in the semifinal. Ghana crumpled in the resulting penalty shootout, losing 4-2 and breaking the hearts of an entire continent.
