If anything I think the North African teams have come on at the expense of the sub-continental ones, technically and tactically.
Tunisia and Morocco both qualified, I rate Morocco. Egypt and Algeria aren’t even there and would give anyone a game with their star players.
I was surprised watching the Cameroon and Ghana games how there were so many Premier League players who couldn’t make simple passes, both games they looked way behind the likes of the Asian teams on the ball and panicky in possession. Of course not having Mane there is a big loss for African football, and Nigeria should be a powerhouse, their population is bigger than ours and Germany combined and is a proper footballing hotbed.
I dunno, has football moved on a bit? The 2000s/early 2010s was really based around pace and power, and you had the likes of Drogba, Essien, Eto’o, Yaya Toure who were dominant. You’d get Cameroon, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Senegal at every World Cup and being dangerous.
Now it’s about pace and technique. Some GKs are as good on the ball as wingers would have been 40 years ago and everybody has to be so sharp on the ball, centre backs who can pass and full backs as your main creative players is a meta.
Even England has a production line of amazing technical players, which is that revolution in coaching from the academy system - this didn’t happen 30 years ago.
Obviously not saying sub-Saharan African players can’t do this as that’s a pure racist cliche. But I wonder if the technical coaching that European kids get from such early ages isn’t happening as much there, and the way elite football is played now suits different types of players more.
Was interesting to me that so many of the Japanese squad play in Bundesliga. That quick, tactical, crazy work rate and unbelievable technique seems to be developing a load of Japanese players which suits that league. I played with a few Japanese lads for a few years and it was very funny, they all wanted to play left wing - often you’d have literally three of them running up there being Ronaldo.