Motsepe: Africa must win World Cup

SANTA MARIA: CAF President Patrice Motsepe has challenged African football to turn its growing influence on the world stage into tangible results, declaring that the continent must win the FIFA World Cup.

He made the statement yesterday during the second day of the CAF Strategy Conference in Santa Maria, Sal Island, Cabo Verde. Motsepe said Africa must focus on investment, stronger football structures and improved standards across all 54 Member Associations to achieve its ambition.

“We have to win the World Cup. We are going to win the World Cup. One of the nations from Africa will win the World Cup,” Motsepe said. He stressed that African football must move beyond promises and long-standing claims about the continent’s potential, insisting that progress should be measured by results.

“There is a big gap between good plans, good intentions and what we do practically in terms of investments and results. We are judged by results,” he said.

ALSO READ: Kilombero Golf Open tees off in Morogoro

Motsepe said CAF’s priority was to raise the quality of football across the continent, ensuring that development benefits all Member Associations rather than a few leading nations.

“What are we going to do today, next week and next month to make sure that the quality of football in each of our 54 Member Associations is worldclass? That is where it starts,” he said.

He also challenged African football leaders to respond to the expectations of young people, who want to see measurable progress rather than repeated promises about the continent’s potential.

“There has been lots of talk over the last 30 or 40 years that ‘it is the time of Africa’. Our young people are saying: show us tangible, quantifiable results that reflect that it is indeed the time of Africa,” Motsepe said. The CAF president’s remarks came as delegates discussed how Africa could build on its record representation at the 2026 World Cup and turn that progress into long-term development.

Cabo Verde’s historic qualification for the tournament featured prominently at the conference, with the country’s leaders highlighting the importance of investment, discipline, organisation and belief in achieving success despite limited resources.