Nigeria, South Africa and Morocco booked their places in the round of 16 of the women’s football World Cup, as Germany, Brazil and Canada packed their bags to head home at the conclusion of the group stages on 3 August 2023. That’s three of the top 10 teams from the Fifa world rankings out in the group stage, and the US only runners-up in their group. This is the first time that three African teams made it to the second round and a great indicator that the quality of the game is improving.
For me, as a scholar of sport science with a strong research focus on African football, it’s encouraging to see how the expansion of the tournament from 24 to 32 nations seems to have opened up opportunities for new teams raring to announce their presence on the world stage. African teams, among other non-traditional power houses like Colombia and Jamaica, have indeed showed up to unsettle any pre-tournament expectations.
