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Portal:Football in Africa

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Introduction

Cameroon's Benoît Assou-Ekotto jostles for possession with Mustapha Allaoui of Morocco

Football is the most popular sport in Africa, alongside basketball. Indeed, football is probably the most popular sport in every African country, although rugby and cricket are also very popular in South Africa. The first football stadium to be built in Africa was the Alexandria Stadium in 1929.

The English Premier League is the most popular sports league in Africa. The most popular clubs in Africa are Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. (Full article...)

Football was first introduced to Africa in the early 1860s by Europeans,[1] due to the colonisation of Africa. The first recorded games were played in South Africa in 1862 between soldiers and civil servants and there were no established rules for the game at this time;[2]" Initially, there were various forms of playing the game, which included elements of both rugby and soccer. It was not until October 26, 1863 that the "rules of association football were codified."[2] The first official football organization in Africa, Pietermaritzburg County Football Association, was established in 1880.Teams were being established in South Africa before 1900, Egypt and in Algeria during a similar time period. Savages FC (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa), L'Oranaise Club (Oran, Algeria) and Gezira SC (Alexandria, Egypt) are the oldest African football clubs that remain in existence. The tree clubs began play in 1882, followed by Alexandria SC (1890), CDJ Oran from Algeria in 1894 and CAL Oran from Algeria too in 1897. By the 1930s, football was being played in Central Africa. In 1882, the first national governing body on the content was formed, South African Football Association (SAFA). SAFA was a whites-only association that became the first member of FIFA in South Africa in 1910.[2]
Egyptian Olympic football team, 1928
As Africa is a highly superstitious continent many African teams depend on witch doctors for success.[3][4][5][6][7] Activities that witch doctors have performed for teams include cutting players, placing potions on equipment, and sacrificing animals.[8]

The African Nations Championship, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies African Nations Championship and commonly abbreviated as CHAN, is a biennial African association football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) since 2009 and first announced in September 2007. The participating nations must consist of players playing in their national league competitions.

The DR Congo and Morocco are the most successful teams in this tournament with two titles each, followed by Tunisia, Libya and incumbent champions Senegal with one title each. The tournament began life in 2009 with 8 teams, which was doubled for the 2nd edition up until the 6th and is currently contested by 18 teams since the 2022 edition.

Since the 2014 edition, matches of every edition of this tournament from qualification to the final will be computed to calculate the forthcoming FIFA World Rankings following its conclusion, which CAF exclaimed at the time as an important step for the competition's development. At the time, FIFA considers the tournament friendly since it is restricted to players from local leagues to participate. The tournament is held biennially and alternates with the Africa Cup of Nations.

Selected biography - show another

Roger Milla is 2009
Roger Milla is a retired Cameroonian footballer who played as a striker. He was one of the first African players to be a major star on the international stage. He played in three World Cups for the Cameroon national team.

Milla achieved international stardom at 38 years old, an age at which most forward-playing footballers have retired, by scoring four goals at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He helped Cameroon become the first African team to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. Four years later, at the age of 42, he became the oldest goalscorer in World Cup history by scoring against Russia in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Milla is also remembered for his trademark goal celebration of running to the corner flag and performing a dance. In the years that have followed, he has been recognised as a pioneer of the many unconventional and imaginative goal celebrations seen since then. He was named one of the 125 greatest living football players in 2004 by Brazilian football player Pelé. In 2007, he was named by the Confederation of African Football as the best African player of the previous 50 years.

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[[Image:|center|400px|A view of the FNB Stadium after a 2010 FIFA World Cup match]]
Credit: mustapha_ennaimi

A view of the FNB Stadium after the 2010 FIFA World Cup Group D match between Ghana and Germany on 23 June 2010. Nicknamed Soccer City and the Calabash, the stadium is the largest in Africa with a capacity of 94,736. It is the home ground of South African giants Kaizer Chiefs and the South Africa national team.

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Sources

  1. ^ "The History Of Soccer In Africa". NPR.org. 2010-06-09. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  2. ^ a b c Alegi, Peter (2010). African Soccerscapes. Ohio University Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 9780896802780.
  3. ^ Frimpong, Enoch Darfah. "Ghana news: A world of superstition, frustration and disillusionment - Graphic Online". Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  4. ^ Lacey, Marc (8 August 2002). "Kangemi Journal; For Spellbinding Soccer, the Juju Man's on the Ball". The New York Times. NY Times. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  5. ^ "World Cup Witchcraft: Africa Teams Turn to Magic for Aid". National Geographic. Archived from the original on July 10, 2006. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  6. ^ Andy Mitten (September 2010). The Rough Guide to Cult Football. Rough Guides UK. ISBN 9781405387965. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
  7. ^ "African Nations Cup overshadowed by hocus pocus | Football". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  8. ^ Kuper, Simon (2006). Soccer Against the Enemy: How the World's Most Popular Sport Starts and Stops Wars, Fuels Revolutions, and Keeps Dictators in Power. Nation Books. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-56025-878-0.