Football in Africa

Brazil is hosting the FIFA 2014 World Cup from 12 June to 13 July. Thirty-two teams are taking part in the tournament, including five from Africa: Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.

To mark this event, the Library, Documentation and Information Department of the African Studies Centre has compiled this web dossier on football in Africa. It contains titles from the library's collection published since 2004 including monographs, articles and films. They are arranged in six sections, each with an introduction and a selection of web resources. All the titles are available in the ASC library and are linked directly to the corresponding record in the library’s online catalogue, which provides further details and, in many cases, an abstract. For titles in the ASC collection that were published before 2004, see our earlier web dossier on African sport (February 2004).
 

 

1. Introduction
2. Football in Algeria
3. Football in Cameroon
4. Football in Ghana
5. Football in Ivory Coast
6. Football in Nigeria
7. Football in Africa
8. Selected web resources

For further information, please email us at asclibrary@ascleiden.nl(link sends e-mail) or phone +31 (0)71 527 3354      

Introduction

Thirteen members of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) have competed at the FIFA World Cup, sport's biggest event, in the past: Algeria, Angola, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Tunisia and Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo).

African countries at the FIFA World Cup in a Nutshell

The very first FIFA World Cup in 1930 was the only one without any qualifying rounds but no African teams participated.

1934: The Pharaohs of Egypt: the first African country to compete at the World Cup
1938-1966: World Cup tournaments without Africa
1970: Morocco returns Africa to the World Cup
1974: Zaire participates
1978: Tunisia is the first African team to win a match at the World Cup
1982: Algeria wins twice but is still eliminated
1986: Morocco becomes the first African team to reach the last sixteen
1990: Cameroon's Indomitable Lions reach the quarter finals
1994: Zambian team dies in a plane crash on their way to a qualifying match; Nigeria reaches the last sixteen
1998: Nigeria reaches the last sixteen once again
2002: Senegal reaches the quarter finals
2006: Ghana reaches the last sixteen
2010: South Africa is first African country to host the World Cup, Ghana reaches the quarter finals

For more information on African countries at the World Cup, see this  Wikipedia article.

African firsts at the World Cup

• First African country at the World Cup: Egypt in 1934
• First African to score a goal at the World Cup: Abdulrahman Fawzi, who scored both Egypt's goals in their 2-4 loss to Hungary in 1934. He netted a third but was ruled to have been offside.
• First African country to score a point at the World Cup Finals: Morocco in 1970, with its 1-1 draw against Bulgaria.
• First African country to win a match at the World Cup Finals: Tunisia in 1978 with its 3-1 win over Mexico
• Worst African defeat at the World Cup Finals: Zaire’s 0-9 loss to Yugoslavia in 1974
• Best African win at the World Cup Finals: Nigeria’s 3-0 against Bulgaria in 1994 and Morocco’s 3-0 over Scotland in 1998.
• First African coach at the World Cup Finals: Tunisia’s Abdelmajid Chetali in 1978
• First African team to reach the last sixteen: Morocco in 1986
• First African team to reach the quarter finals: Cameroon in 1990
• First team to qualify on penalties for the World Cup Finals: Tunisia in 1978 who beat Morocco 4-2 on penalties when the score was 1-1 at the end of extra time
• Oldest man to score at the World Cup Finals: Roger Milla, aged 42, against Russia in the 1994 FIFA World Cup (Russia won the match 6-1)
• The most matches played by an African team to qualify for the World Cup Finals: 13 by Algeria in 2010
• First African to score an own goal at the World Cup: Youssef Chippo of Morocco in their 2-2 draw against Norway on 10 June 1998
• First African to score a penalty at the World Cup: Egypt’s Magdi Abdelghani in their 1-1 draw against the Netherlands during Italia 90
• First African country to host the World Cup: South Africa in 2010

 

Performance of the 5 African countries participating in the 2014 FIFA World Cup
 

Country	Nickname	Participations	Years	Performance
Cameroon	Les Lions Indomptables	7	1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014	1990: Cameroon's Indomitable Lions reached the quarter finals
Nigeria	Super Eagles	5	1994, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014	1994 & 1998: Nigeria reached the last sixteen
Algeria	Les Fennecs	4	1982, 1986, 2010, 2014	1982: Algeria won twice but was still eliminated
Ivory Coast	Les Éléphants	3	2006, 2010, 2014
Ghana	Black Stars	3	2006, 2010, 2014	2006: Ghana reached the last sixteen; 2010: Ghana made it through to the quarter finals

                                                                                                                                                        

Football in Algeria

Football, the new battlefield of business in Algeria : Djezzy and Nedjma ... RANA MAK YA AL-KHDRA / Mahfoud Amara
In: The Journal of North African Studies: (2011), vol. 16, no. 3, p. 343-360.

Sport et politique en Algérie / Youcef Fatès. - Paris : L'Harmattan, 2009. - (Espaces et temps du sport)

Le sport, phénomène et pratiques / Meriem Kerzabi. - Insaniyat, ISSN 1111-2050 ; 34 ; 2006

Football in Algeria: between violence and politics / Youssef Fatès
In: Football in Africa: conflict, conciliation and community / [ed. by] Gary Armstrong and Richard Giulianotti. - Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan / 2004, p. 41-58

Football in Cameroon

Big men playing football : money, politics and foul play in the African game / Arnold Pannenborg. - Leiden : African Studies Centre, 2012. - (African studies collection, ISSN 1876-0198 ; 43)
http://hdl.handle.net/1887/20224

Les terrains politiques du football / [dossier] coordonné par Susann Baller & Martha Saavedra
In: Politique africaine: (2010), no. 118, p. 5-141.

Les lions indomptables : cinquante ans de bonheur / Calixthe Beyala. - Paris : Albin Michel, 2010

Voicing the voiceless : contributions to closing gaps in Cameroon history, 1958-2009 / Walter Gam Nkwi. - Mankon : Langaa Research & Publishing CIG, 2010

Big men, big gains? : the involvement of African club officials in the transfer of players / Arnold Pannenborg
In: African Historical Review: (2010), vol. 42, no. 1, p. 63-90.

Visions of a better world : football in the Cameroonian social imagination / Beata Vidacs. - Berlin [etc.] : Lit, 2010. - (Ethnologie ; Bd. 21)

Samuel Eto'o : une légende au présent / Sismondi Barlev Bidjocka. - Paris : L'Harmattan, 2009

How to win a football match in Cameroon : an anthropological study of Africa's most popular sport / Arnold Pannenborg. - Leiden : African Studies Centre, 2008. - (African studies collection, ISSN 1876-0198 ; 8)
http://hdl.handle.net/1887/12906

The other game : the politics of football in Africa / Susann Baller. - Afrika spectrum, ISSN 0002-0397 ; Jg. 41, H. 3, 2006

Football in Ghana

Global perspectives on football in Africa : visualising the game / ed. by Susann Baller, Giorgio Miescher & Ciraj Rassool. - London [etc.] : Routledge, 2013. - (Sport in the global society, Contemporary perspectives)

'Let us rally around the flag': football, nation-building, and pan-Africanism in Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana / Paul Darby
In: Journal of African History: (2013), vol. 54, no. 2, p. 221-246.

Big men playing football : money, politics and foul play in the African game / Arnold Pannenborg. - Leiden : African Studies Centre, 2012. - (African studies collection, ISSN 1876-0198 ; 43)
http://hdl.handle.net/1887/20224

Black stars : the long road to greatness / Ken Bediako. - Tema, 2010

De weg naar Kaapstad : Afrika en het WK Voetbal in 2010 / Abdelkader Benali. - Amsterdam [etc.] : De Arbeiderspers/Het Sporthuis, 2010

L'Afrique, la mondialisation et le ballon rond / [dossier coordonné par] Nicolas Courtin & Raphael Jozan
In: Afrique contemporaine: (2010), no. 233, p. 11-108.

'Go outside': the history, economics and geography of Ghanaian football labour migration / Paul Darby
In: African Historical Review: (2010), vol. 42, no. 1, p. 19-41 : graf.

Big men, big gains? : the involvement of African club officials in the transfer of players / Arnold Pannenborg
In: African Historical Review: (2010), vol. 42, no. 1, p. 63-90.

De macht van de bal : op reis door de geschiedenis van voetballend Afrika / Edwin Schoon. - Amsterdam [etc.] : Veen, 2010

Win the match and vote for me : the politicisation of Ghana's Accra Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko football clubs / Kevin S. Fridy & Victor Brobbey
In: The Journal of Modern African Studies: (2009), vol. 47, no. 1, p. 19-39 : graf. , tab.

Pride and glory : Black Stars in Germany '06 / Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng. - Accra : Total Africa Communications, 2007

Football in the Ivory Coast

Les terrains politiques du football / [dossier] coordonné par Susann Baller & Martha Saavedra
In: Politique africaine: (2010), no. 118, p. 5-141.

De weg naar Kaapstad : Afrika en het WK Voetbal in 2010 / Abdelkader Benali. - Amsterdam [etc.] : De Arbeiderspers/Het Sporthuis, 2010

Les secrets de l'Académie / Michel Alex Kipré. - Abidjan : Frat Mat Editions, 2010

L'ASEC Mimosas, un dossier / Roger Ouegnin & Lucien Mathieu N'Gouin-Claih. - Abidjan : Nouvelles Editions Ivoiriennes, 2010

Football et politique dans la Côte d'Ivoire en crise : une lecture des appels de Drogba à la réconciliation nationale / Aghi Bahi & Gadou Dakouri
In: African Sociological Review: (2009), vol. 13, no. 2, p. 2-15.

The other game : the politics of football in Africa / [Susann Baller ... et al]. - Afrika spectrum, ISSN 0002-0397 ; Jg. 41, H. 3, 2006

Football in Nigeria

Thierry Henry as 'Igwe': soccer fandom, christening and cultural passage in Nollywood / Senayon Olaoluwa & Adewole Adejayan
In: Journal of African Cinemas: (2011), vol. 3, no. 1, p. 25-42.

De macht van de bal : op reis door de geschiedenis van voetballend Afrika / Edwin Schoon. - Amsterdam [etc.] : Veen, 2010

Gender, sport, and development in Africa : cross-cultural perspectives on patterns of representations and marginalization / ed. by Jimoh Shehu. - Dakar : CODESRIA, 2010. - (CODESRIA book series)

Football, mobilization and protest : Nnamdi Azikiwe and the goodwill tours of World War II / Wiebe Boer
In: Lagos Historical Review: (2006), vol. 6, p. 39-61.

A story of heroes, of epics: the rise of football in Nigeria / Wiebe Boer
In: Football in Africa: conflict, conciliation and community / [ed. by] Gary Armstrong and Richard Giulianotti. - Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan / 2004, p. 59-79

Football in Africa

Urban football performances: playing for the neighbourhood in Senegal, 1950s-2000s / Susann Baller
In: Africa / International African Institute: (2014), vol.84, no.1, p.17-35.

Africa's World Cup : critical reflections on play, patriotism, spectatorship, and space / ed. by Peter Alegi and Chris Bolsmann. - Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, cop. 2013

Following the ball : African soccer players, labor strategies and emigration across the Portuguese colonial empire, 1949-1975 / Todd Cleveland
In: Cadernos de Estudos Africanos: (2013), no. 26, p. 15-41 : ill.

'Meta-societies' and 'play communities' : the function of play to Liberian youth football players / Holly Collison
In: Cadernos de Estudos Africanos: (2013), no. 26, p. 105-126.

Das bancas de matraquilhos ao campo dos caranguejos, dos estádios aos terreiros : campos de jogos num espaço microinsular do tempo colonial ao pós-independência / Augusto Nascimento
In: Cadernos de Estudos Africanos: (2013), no. 26, p. 177-222 : foto's.

Semantic extensions, idiomaticity and analogy in soccer discourse among Dholuo speakers of Kenya / Benson Ojwang
In: Language Matters: (2013), vol. 44, no. 1, p. 122-140.

The 2010 Football World Cup and the regulation of sex work in South Africa / Elsje Bonthuys
In: Journal of Southern African Studies: (2012), vol. 38, no. 1, p. 11-29.

Framing the Cape Town World Cup stadium in the media : the politics of identity and sports in South Africa / Wallace Chuma
In: Journal of African Media Studies: (2012), vol. 4, no. 3, p. 315-329.

No small irony: a discourse analysis of Zapiro's 2010 World Cup cartoons / Marthinus Conradie, Susan Brokensha & Marilize Pretorius
In: Language Matters: (2012), vol. 43, no. 1, p. 39-59 : ill. , tab.

Integrating a popular sport into the patrimony in a South African provincial town : the case of football in Stellenbosch / Sylvain Cubizolles
In: African Studies: (2012), vol. 71, no. 1, p. 108-126.

La véritable histoire du football congolais / Ghislain Joseph Gabio. - Paris : L'Harmattan, 2012

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa : a millennial capitalist moment / Shaheed Tayob
In: Journal of Southern African Studies: (2012), vol. 38, no. 3, p. 717-736.

Mega-events and the developing world : a look at the legacy of the 2010 Soccer World Cup / Lindsay Harris
In: South African Journal of International Affairs: (2011), vol. 18, no. 3, p. 407-427.

FIFA and the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa: a developmental perspective / Pieter Labuschagne
In: Africanus: (2011), vol. 41, no. 2, p. 32-45 : tab.

Soccer & sex : a polyvocal case study of the effects of the FIFA World Cup 2010 on South Africa's sex industry / Mieke Langenberg. - [S.l. s.l.], 2011

Ways with soccer in Africa / Robert Muponde & Abebe Zegeye
In: African identities, ISSN 1472-5843 ; vol. 9, no. 3 (November 2011)

Africa, sport and the archive : the SCOLMA conference 2011 / [contrib.: John Pinfold ... et al.]
In: African research and documentation, ISSN 0305-862X ; no. 116 (2011)

African soccerscapes : how a continent changed the world's game / Peter Alegi. - London : C. Hurst, 2010

From apartheid to unity: white capital and black power in the racial integration of South African football, 1976-1992 / Peter Alegi & Chris Bolsmann
In: African Historical Review: (2010), vol. 42, no. 1, p. 1-18.

South Africa and the global game : football, apartheid and beyond / ed. by Peter Alegi & Chris Bolsmann. - London [etc.] : Routledge, 2010. - (Sport in the global society, Contemporary perspectives)

Voodoo im Strafraum : Fußball und Magie in Afrika / Oliver G. Becker. - München : Beck, 2010. - (Beck'sche Reihe, ISSN 0932-5352 ; 1673)

Africa united : soccer, passion, politics, and the first World Cup in Africa / Steve Bloomfield. - New York [etc.] : Harper Perennial, 2010

Le football africain : biographies, histoire, bilan et perspectives / Radouane Bnou-Nouçair. - Paris : L'Harmattan, 2010

South African football tours at the turn of the twentieth century: amateurs, pioneers and profits / Chris Bolsmann
In: African Historical Review: (2010), vol. 42, no. 1, p. 91-112.

Misdaad en het WK voetbal 2010 in Zuid Afrika / Johan Burger
In: Justitiele Verkenningen: (2010), vol.36, no.1, p.41-53 : fig.

A game apart : the real story behind the World Cup in South Africa, 2010 / Neal Collins. - Central Milton Keynes : AuthorHouse, 2010

Le football en Afrique du Sud : vécu d'un township au Cap occidental / Sylvain Cubizolles. - Paris : Karthala, 2010

The race to transform : sport in post-apartheid South Africa / ed. by Ashwin Desai. - Cape Town : HSRC Press, 2010

L'Afrique et la planète football / Paul Dietschy & David Claude Kemo-Keimbou. - [Paris] : Éditions EPA, 2010

Romeo und Jabulile : eine südafrikanische Liebesgeschichte / Lutz van Dijk. - Wuppertal : Peter Hammer Verlag, 2010

Problems and prospects for community-based tourism in the new South Africa: the 2010 FIFA World Cup and beyond / Andrea Giampiccoli & John Nauright
In: African Historical Review: (2010), vol. 42, no. 1, p. 42-62 : graf. , tab.

Football muti / Robin Goode, Matteo Bottanelli & Kabir Javier. - Auckland Park : Jacana Media, 2010

Mega-Event und Stadtentwicklung im globalen Süden : die Fussballweltmeisterschaft 2010 und ihre Impulse für Südafrika / Christoph Haferburg, Malte Steinbrink (Hrsg.). - Frankfurt am Main : Brandes & Apsel, 2010. - (Perspektiven südliches Afrika ; 3 Wissen & Praxis ; 158)

African arenas / Thomas Hoeffgen & Nadine Barth. - Ostfildern : Hatje Cantz, 2010

Fußball in Afrika = Football in Africa / Christine Hoffendahl & Anne Jansen. - Hamburg : 2010. - (Dok-line Afrika, ISSN 1611-1109 ; 2)

The Africa Cup of Nations 1957-2010 : a statistical record / Romeo Ionescu. - Lincolnshire : Soccer Books, 2010

The FIFA World Cup 2010 in the news / Sean Jacobs
In: Ecquid novi, ISSN 0256-0054 ; vol. 31, no. 2 (2010)

Mzansi magic : struggle, betrayal & glory : the story of South African soccer / Joe Latakgomo. - Cape Town : Tafelberg, 2010

Beyond the pitch of the 'Palancas Negras' : social, cultural and political discourses among the inhabitants of Luanda and in the media about the Africa Cup of Nations 2010 / Wies van der Linden. - Leiden : [s.n.], 2010

Elf : Fussballgeschichte aus Südafrika / Hg. Manfred Loimeier & Thomas Brückner. - Wuppertal : Peter Hammer Verlag, 2010

Editorial: football in Africa : the impact of the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa / Isaac Luginaah & Kefa M. Otiso
In: African Geographical Review: (2010), vol. 29, no. 2, p. 5-11.

Yearbook of African Football 2010 / Gabriel Mantz. - Lincolnshire : Soccer Books, 2010

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa : Africa roars! / Emmanuel Ngwena Musara. - Kopje, Harare : Priority Projects Publishing, 2010

Comme le dit un proverbe africain : les plus belles maximes de la sagesse africaine pour tout comprendre de la Coupe du Monde / Rémy Ngono. - [Paris] : Prolongations, 2010

Football in post-conflict Sierra Leone / Anneke G. Niet
In: African Historical Review: (2010), vol. 42, no. 2, p. 48-60 : foto's.

Bodies in action : culture and body skills in post-conflict Sierra Leone / Anneke van der Niet. - Leiden : African Studies Centre, 2010. (African studies collection, ISSN 1876-018X ; 24)
http://hdl.handle.net//1887/15564

Football, religion et politique en Afrique : sociologie du football africain / Tado Oumarou & Pierre Chazaud. - Paris : L'Harmattan, 2010. - (Logiques sociales)

2010 FIFA World Cup : gender, politics and sport / [guest eds: Venitha Pillay & Elaine Salo]
In: Agenda, ISSN 1013-0950 ; no. 85 (2010)

L'Afrique au coeur du sport mondial : autour de la Coupe du monde de football 2010 en Afrique du Sud / coord.: Annelise Pottier & Jean Pierre Augustin
In: Les cahiers d'Outre-Mer, ISSN 0373-5834 ; vol. 63, no. 250 (2010)

Le football Rwanda: un simulacre guerrier dans la créolisation d'une société (1900-50) / Thomas Riot
In: Canadian Journal of African Studies: (2010), vol. 44, no. 1, p. 75-109.

Les grands défis du football africain : les dessous d'un système / [contrib.:] Abdoulaye Sakho & Moustapha Kamara .. [et al.]. - Dakar : Clairafrique, 2010

Ons Zuid-Afrika : Nederlandse sporen in het land van de boeren, Kaap de Goede Hoop en anti-apartheidsstrijd / eindred. E. Schaafsma ...  [et al.]. - Doetinchem : Reed Business, 2010. - (Elsevier, ISSN 0922-3444 ; 2010)

Player and referee : conflicting interests and the 2010 FIFA World Cup /ed. by  Collette Schulz-Herzenberg. - Tshwane : Institute for Security Studies, 2010. - (Monograph ; 169)

The role of amateur football in circular migration systems in South Africa / Malte Steinbrink
In: Africa Spectrum: (2010), vol. 45, no. 2, p. 35-60 : fig. , foto, krt.

Dossier sport : à qui profite la Coupe du monde ? / [Benoît Thelliez]
In: Marchés tropicaux et méditerranéens: (2010), année 65, no. 3253, p. 5-21 : ill. , krt.

Africa United : de weg naar het WK / samenstellers: Stefan Verwer, Marc Broere & Chris de Bode. - Amsterdam : KIT Publishers, 2010
/ Demetrius Wren & Christina Ghubril. - [S.l.] : 2010. - 1 dvd-video (78 min.). : kleur, gel.

For earlier titles in the ASC collection see the 2010 web dossier on Football in Africa.                                                                    

Selected web resources

The ASC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites                                                                

World Cup 2014

2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil
Official website of the FIFA World Cup
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/

World Cup 2014
BBC pages on the 2014 World Cup, including videos
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/world-cup/

Road to Brazil
Videos presenting the participating teams, the host country and the host cities
https://nos.nl/video/629617-road-to-brazil-1-brazilie-en-japan.html

Football in Africa

See also Selected web resources in the web dossier on African Sport  and the 2010 web dossier on Football in Africa.

Africa

Confederation of African Football (CAF)
Official website of the Confederation of African Football
http://www.cafonline.com/
CAF on Twitter and YouTube

FIFA.com African News Centre
Includes videos, photos, interviews.
http://www.fifa.com/newscentre/africa/

Algeria

Fédération algérienne de football
Offical website of the Algerian Football Federation
http://www.faf.dz/

FiFA.com Algeria
Includes news, results, ranking, photos.
https://inside.fifa.com/about-fifa/associations/ALG

CAFonline.com Algeria
Includes results, latest news.
https://www.cafonline.com/member-associations/ALG/

Cameroon

Fédération Camerounaise de Football (FECAFOOT)
Offical website of the Cameroonian Football Federation
http://fecafoot-officiel.com/
FECAFOOT on Twitter and Facebook

FiFA.com Cameroon
Includes news, results, ranking, photos.
https://inside.fifa.com/about-fifa/associations/cmr/

CAFonline.com Cameroon
Includes results, latest news.
https://www.cafonline.com/member-associations/CMR/

Ghana

Ghana Football Association
Offical website of the Ghanaian Football Federation
http://www.ghanafa.org/
The Ghana Football Association on Twitter and Facebook

FiFA.com Ghana
Includes news, results, ranking, photos.
https://inside.fifa.com/about-fifa/associations/gha/

CAFonline.com Ghana
Includes results, latest news.
https://www.cafonline.com/member-associations/GHA/

Ivory Coast

Fédération Ivoirienne de Football (FIFCI)
Offical website of the Ivorian Football Federation
http://www.fifciv.com/
FIFCI on Twitter and Facebook

FiFA.com Ivory Coast
Includes news, results, ranking, photos.
https://inside.fifa.com/about-fifa/associations/civ/

CAFonline.com Ivory Coast
Includes results, latest news.
https://www.cafonline.com/member-associations/CIV/

Nigeria

Nigeria Football Federation
Offical website of the Nigerian Football Federation
https://www.thenff.com/
Nigerian national football team on Twitter

FiFA.com Nigeria
Includes news, results, ranking, photos.
https://inside.fifa.com/about-fifa/associations/nga/

CAFonline.com Nigeria
Includes results, latest news.
https://www.cafonline.com/member-associations/NGA/