For the first time in the history of the FIFA World Cup, the African representative countries will be coached by people of the same nationality.
This is a development that proves how African countries have grown to trust in one of their own.
Ghana will be coached by Otto Addo(Ghanaian), Tunisia is headed by Jalel Kadri (Tunis), Cameroon will be led by Rigobert Song (Cameronian), Morocco: Walid Regragui (Moroccan) and Senegal, Aliou Cissé(Senegalese).
Below is my take on how far these coaches will fair in the Mundial.
Aliou Cissé
Aliou Cissé was born on 24th March,1976. He is a Senegalese football coach and former player. As a footballer, he played for Lille OSC, CS Sedan Ardennes, Paris Saint-Germain, Birmingham City and Portsmouth. Cissé was a versatile player who was deployed as a defensive midfielder and centre back.
He was the captain of the Senegal national team that went to the quarter finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup where they lost 1–0 to Turkey.
He is currently the head coach of the Senegal national team. He temporary played caretaker role when Amara Traoré was sacked in 2012. In March 2015, Cissé was officially appointed as the head coach for the Senegal national team. Aliou qualified Senegal for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, however, they exited from the group stage.
Aliou Cissé guided the Tarenga Lions to beat Egypt to clinch the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations 2021 in Senegal. The achievement was the first in the country’s football history. Same opponent, he overpowered to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
With the Calibre of talent in the Cameroon National team, he is tipped to make them the star of Africa in Qatar.
Cissé has won 30 out of 57 games, drawn 18, lost 9. His Cameroon team are in the same group with Netherlands, Qatar, and Ecuador. Aliou has 52.63% winning percentage (the highest among the African coaches), and per his achievement and time spent with the team, I tip Cameroon to reach the Quarter final of the world cup.
Walid Regragui:
Walid Regragui was appointed as the head coach of Morocco national team after the dismissal of Franco-Bosnian Vahid Halilhodzic in August 11,2022.
Walid is a former Moroccan player, and current head coach of same country. He was born in Paris and played as a defender for Toulouse, Ajaccio, Dijon and Grenoble. He also made 45 caps with Morocco’s national team.
As coach, Regragui was coach of Moroccan club FUS Rabat and later Qatari club Al-Duhail. He then coached Wydad Casablanca for one triumphant season, leading the club to victory against Egypt’s Al-Ahly to win the African Champions League as well as clinching the Moroccan league title.
Morocco will face Croatia, Belgium and Canada in Group F. Despite the inclusion of their talisman Ziyech who hasn’t been the same since his move to Chelsea in the national team now, I tip Morocco to be kicked out of the group stage. The reason is, the coach hasn’t had ample time with the team to tune them; after the former coach left them in shambles.
Jalel Kadri :
Jalel Kadri is a Tunisian football coach of the Tunisia national team. He was the head coach of the Tunisian Olympic Football team between 2007 and 2008. After a stunning coaching career in his home-country Tunisia, where he helped several teams reach the league promotion and has also impressed during four outstanding seasons as a head coach in the Professional League 1, Jalel moved to Saudi Arabia where he worked as a Head coach at Damac FC and Al Ansar FC.
In 2013, he was assistant coach of the Tunisian team for a few games under Nabil Maâloul. From October 2013, he was once again a freelance coach at Saudi club Al-Nahda. For the 2014–15 season, he accepted this position at Al-Khaleej Club, where he accompanied the team for two seasons. From October 2017, he continued with JS Kairouan, where he would only stay until March 2018. Shortly after, he was then under contract with CA Bizertin, where he remained for the rest of the season. .
In the United Arab Emirates, he took the coaching position for the 2018–19 season at the Emirates Club. In turn, the following season, he remained completely at the Stade Tunisien. From November 2020 to January 2021, he was briefly on the sidelines at Al Ahli Tripoli.
In June 2021, he became assistant coach of the Tunisian national team for the second time. This time under Mondher Kebaier, with whom he accompanied the team to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, where he became head coach in the round of 16 because Kebaier contracted Covid-19.
On 23rd January 2022, during the match against Nigeria in the round of 16 of the 2021 African Cup of Nations, Jalal Kadri replaced the first coach, Mondher Kebaier, at the helm of the team due to his Covid-19 infection, the match ending with a victory for Tunisia 1–0. On 30 January he was appointed coach after being eliminated from the quarter-finals of the Africon against Burkina Faso. In the process, he led the team to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Among all the African coaches who are about to compete in the Mundial, Kadri is the most experienced, he has coached more than 20 clubs. However, in a group with Denmark, Australia, and France, it will be difficult for him to qualify. Nevertheless, it’s possible for him to qualify out of the group stage to round of 16.
Rigobert Song
Rigobert Song Bahanag is a Cameronian former football who played for: Metz, Salernitana, Lens, Liverpool, WestHam, Galatasaray, Köln, and Trabzonspor.
During his playing stint, he won Coupe de la Ligue, UEFA Cup, Süper Lig, and Turkish Cup.
Song is currently the head coach of the Cameroon national team.
In February 2016, Song was appointed as manager of the Cameroon A’ team, which is composed of players based in Cameroon. Following his hospitalisation for a brain aneurysm and subsequent recovery, Song resumed coaching duties in 2017, ahead of the qualification stage of the 2018 African Nations Championship. He led the team into the tournament, which saw Cameroon finish bottom of their group after two losses and a draw.
In April 2018, Song was one of 77 applicants for the vacant Cameroon national team job. He assumed the role on a caretaker basis later in the year. On 28 February 2022, it was announced that Song replaced Toni Conceição as the manager of the senior Cameroon national team and later qualified the team to Qatar 2022.
Cameroon are in the same group with Brazil, Switzerland, and Serbia. Rigobert Song has 37.50% winning percentage. With this record and the strength of the teams in their group, I don’t see Cameroon qualifying out of their group.
Otto Addo:
Otto Addo is a German-born Ghanaian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Ghana national football team, and works as a talent coach for Borussia Dortmund.
Addo is an attacking midfielder who had played for Bramfelder SV, VfL 93 Hamburg, Hannover 96,
Borussia Dortmund,
Mainz 05, Hamburger SV II, and Hamburger SV.
Addo chalked 36 caps for the Ghana national team, and was part of the team that qualified Ghana to its first ever World Cup.
As a manger, Addo has been the assistant coach for Hamburger SV U19, assistant interim for Hamburger SV (interim assistant), head scout for Ghana (2016–2017), Borussia Mönchengladbach’s talent coach, Borussia Dortmund (talent coach),
Borussia Dortmund (assistant), Ghana (assistant), and as interim Ghana who qualified Ghana to the FIFA World Cup 2022.
At Hamburger SV U19, Addo managed 26 games, he lost 11, won 10, then drew five.
As Ghana interim/head coach, he has played 4 games, won 1, drew 2, and lost 1. Overall, Otto Addo has winning percentage of 34.21%.
With Ghana sharing the same group with Portugal, Uruguay, and South Korea, If statistics is anything to go by, I will tip Ghana to be eliminated from the group stage.
Author-Isaac Papa Nketsiah
