Debutants Comoros and the Gambia reaching the last 16 should not be a surprise and make the case for further expansion
The middle continues to rise. In Europe at least, the question about African football is why it has not kicked on the past two decades from the time when, in the space of 12 years between 1990 and 2002, Cameroon and Senegal reached World Cup quarter-finals and Cameroon and Nigeria won Olympic golds. One quarter-final since does not look much like progress.
And yet for all that issues of infrastructure and administration continue to blight the highest level of the African game, where there has been clear progress has been lower down the pyramid. There is a healthy and growing middle class. It’s not so long ago that expanding the Cup of Nations from 16 to 24 teams would have seen a marked dilution of quality, but not now.
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