Nine of Africa’s ten nations have advanced to the Round of 32 at the 2026 World Cup, and for Chuks Akuneto, a former Super Eagles player now working as Manchester City’s under-17 head coach in England, the results have validated what he has always believed about the continent’s potential, Footynaija.com reports.
Akuneto played for Nigeria across a 15-year career spanning five countries before transitioning into coaching in England, where he has worked across youth setups and mentored players including Odion Ighalo and Isaac Success.
Speaking exclusively to Completesports from his base in the United Kingdom, he used Africa’s outstanding group-stage performance to revisit a point he has made consistently through the years, and one that Nigeria’s absence from the tournament makes more pointed.
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“We have never lacked talent. What we have lacked is decisiveness, proper planning and effective preparation for major tournaments,” Akuneto said.
He pointed to a moment from Nigeria’s own history to frame just how close Africa has come to breaking through at the very highest level.
“In 1994, Nigeria was two minutes away from reaching the semi-finals,” he noted, referencing the Super Eagles’ 2-1 defeat to Italy after extra time in the second round of that year’s World Cup in the United States.
“And in 2022, Morocco also came very close.”
For Akuneto, the gap between Africa and football’s traditional powers is real but closeable.
“Tactically, I think we are one or two steps behind the world leaders such as France and Spain,” he said.
“But I believe that, just as Morocco did in 2022, Africa can continue to grow and go beyond where Morocco stopped the last time.”
With South Africa, Morocco, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Senegal, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana and Cape Verde all moving into the knockout rounds, Africa now has its best ever chance of producing a quarter-finalist, or more.
Nigeria, meanwhile, must watch from home and prepare to be part of that conversation in 2030.
