Another interesting World Cup champion challenge: make an African nation win it. Outside of a single appearance by Egypt, the first African countries only entered in 1970. Unless you wanna ASB colonialism away, I assume that won't change much. So how does an African country with obviously more limited experience and resources take on the rest of the world? Maybe Rugby never takes over South Africa, the Afrikaners asserting a more separate identity through a different sport? Th sport could then unite the nation after Apartheid and lead to a phenomenal team combining Township street style with fairly good resources.
AHC: Make an African country win the FIFA World Cup
- Thread starter Happy Nihilist
- Start date
Maybe you should wait until the current world cup is over and then see if you need to ask!
Senegal did OK in the mid 1990s, so find a way to open up the European clubs to African players about 10 years earlier to bring that forward. Funnel a bit more money into developing the domestic African clubs off the back of Senegal (or whichever ATL team first gets to the knockout rounds) and you could maybe have a few serious contenders by about 2014 and one or two teams with outside chances in a lucky draw from about 2002.
Senegal did OK in the mid 1990s, so find a way to open up the European clubs to African players about 10 years earlier to bring that forward. Funnel a bit more money into developing the domestic African clubs off the back of Senegal (or whichever ATL team first gets to the knockout rounds) and you could maybe have a few serious contenders by about 2014 and one or two teams with outside chances in a lucky draw from about 2002.
Cameroon were 10 mins away from beating England in Italia 90 and making the semis
Germany were bang average in the semi against England, and if it goes to pens like OTL then any goalkeeper would surely do better in the shootout than Shilton (who from memory guessed correctly each time but never got close to saving anything)
Cameroon then repeat their performance from the group game in the final
Germany were bang average in the semi against England, and if it goes to pens like OTL then any goalkeeper would surely do better in the shootout than Shilton (who from memory guessed correctly each time but never got close to saving anything)
Cameroon then repeat their performance from the group game in the final
Ghana was Suarez away from reaching the semifinal in 2010. If Ghana score the penalty at the last minute of extra time they go through and face the Neatherlands. Unfortunally they will face Germany in the final
I made a TL something similar about this in which the African boycott for the 1966 WC is avoided with there being an early increase increase of 16 to 24 teams far earlier than OTL which allows earlier African participants and over times has African teams doing well decades earlier but getting to the last four on several occasions which all leads to a certain WC victory for this year (Morroco or someone else) and perhaps an earlier hosting a WC by an African country could help.
Many butterflies to think about here.
Many butterflies to think about here.
I still remember how excited I was to see the Nigerian soccer team win gold in 1996. It was a great underdog story.
Could they be good enough to win in 1994 or 1998 with some breaks? Or is Olympic soccer not on the same level as FIFA?
Could they be good enough to win in 1994 or 1998 with some breaks? Or is Olympic soccer not on the same level as FIFA?
Nigeria were agonizingly close to beating Italy in the 1994 World Cup round of 16, conceding a very late equalizer. This would've set them up for a quarter-final against a good (not great) Spanish side, who Nigeria actually managed to beat at the 1998 World Cup. The semi-final would be against a Bulgarian side they defeated 3-0 earlier in the tournament, making a final appearance very plausible. Brazil would've probably won the final, but a Nigerian win is well within the realm of possibility.