Not a single African team has ever made it to the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup in its 92-year history, let alone lifting the prestigious trophy. Only Ghana, Senegal and Cameroon have gone further in the mundial, reaching quarterfinals in the 2010, 2002 and 1990 editions respectively. Like Africa, Asia is equally yet to taste the glory of the prestigious quadrennial championship, with South Korea’s round of four show in 2002, their best performance.The World Cup for now remains a preserve of Europe and South America, who have won it interchangeably on twenty one past occasions, with the former bagging it 12 times, and the latter 9 times.Five teams, namely Senegal, Tunisia, Ghana, Cameroon and Morocco, will represent Africa in this last edition of the 32-team format World Cup set for November 20 kick-off in the tiny gulf state of Qatar, the first Arab Nation to stage the event. Yet, it’s the Teranga Lions of Senegal former Brazilian left back and Gor Mahia coach José Marcelo Ferreira aka Zè Maria tips to dazzle for the football crazy, but glory-sterved continent. Senegal is the best ranked African team heading into the World Cup at position 18 globally, according to the latest FIFA ranking. The West Africans won the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, for the first time in Cameroon last year, and boasts a galaxy of stars such as Sadio Mané and Kalidou Koulibaly.##NAJAVA_MECA_6778579##In an exclusive interview with Mozzart Sport, Zè Maria, who played for the Seleção Canarinho of Brazil 25 times, but not at the World Cup, and is currently working for Parma as a technical collaborator within the club’s youth system, delved into various topics including whether winning the World Cup will make Argentine great Lionel Messi the greatest ever player to kick the round ball.Q: Are you looking forward to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, are you feeling excited about the tournament?A: I’m very excited. The World Cup is the most important tournament in football so everyone is looking forward to it.Q: What are the chances of Brazil winning a sixth World Cup title this year?A: Every team has the same chance of winning the World Cup, it’s not an easy competition and you can’t afford mistakes. That’s what makes it exciting.Q: How important is Neymar to the Brazilian team heading into this World Cup?A: Neymar is the best player in the team, and he will be very important, but Brazil has a very good team, even aside from Neymar.🇦🇷🇧🇷🇫🇷 Messi, Neymar or Mbappe?Which @PSG_English star has the best chance of lifting the #FIFAWorldCup trophy in Qatar? pic.twitter.com/N61nV0GspS— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 2, 2022 Q: Which team in your opinion is going to win the Qatar World Cup and why?A: Brazil has a very good team, Casemiro provides the balance that they need and it’s a very complete team, but Argentina and France also have really good squads and equally stand a chance of winning the World Cup.Q: Which African team do you think stands a better chance of doing well in the Qatar World Cup and why?A: Senegal are looking really good. They won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), and have very good leaders in Manè (Sadio) and Koulibaly (Kalidou).Q: Do you think an African team will ever win the World Cup?A: Africa is consistently becoming more important in football, I’m sure African teams will do great in the future. Poor Mwendwa still in the cold as KPL chairmen only want Petra and Barry back in FKFQ: You played for Brazil 25 times, but not at the World Cup, how does this make you feel?A: I don’t regret anything about my career, I enjoyed it and had a lot of fun.Q: Lastly, do you think winning the World Cup will make Messi the greatest footballer of all time?A: Messi already is one of the greatest ever, but I don’t think he’s the best, even if he wins the World Cup.Zè Maria regrets that Kenya is serving an indefinite FIFA suspension and hopes the situation normalizes soon.
