Africa was left without a representative in the World Cup last 16 for the first time since the round was introduced in 1986 four years ago, but the response in Qatar has been emphatic.
The 2022 tournament saw two African teams reach the knockout stage for the first time, following Algeria and Nigeria in 2014.
African nations also scored a record-breaking 24 points in the group stage, breaking the previous best of 15 points set in 1998.
Morocco won Group F by defeating the world’s second-ranked team Belgium and Canada, while Senegal recovered from an early defeat by the Netherlands by defeating Qatar and Ecuador.
Brazil were beaten by an African team for the first time with a 1-0 defeat by Cameroon, who exited the tournament in glory.
For Morocco, their clash with Spain next Tuesday will be a first appearance in the knockout stage for 36 years.
Their fans will turn up in their thousands again to cheer on the only remaining Arab country in the World Cup.
“We hope to fly the flag of African football high,” said Morocco coach Walid Regragui.
“Often we’ve been described as being sub-par, not as good as elsewhere.
“But I think at this World Cup we are showing we can give any other team a run for their money, whether they be European teams or South American teams.
“I hope in the future this means we’ll be seeing more African teams do well at the World Cup and why not an African champion?”
The 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will involve more African countries than ever before, with the tournament set to expand from 32 to 48 teams.
