After the emergence of Ivory Coast and Senegal on the world and African stage.....people seem to be looking for the next African team to rise out mediocrity.......My view on this is that these teams will be almost exclusive from West, Central, and North Africa. East Africa.....is still miles behind....but hosting a nations cup in Kenya would be a decent start......South Africa seems only to be going backward........something that I have noticed is that....football talent seems to be oblivious to international borders.....Nigeria has an excess of talent....and suddenly.....Togo are producing a decent national team abd players in Europe....with all the talent coming from Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Ghana....I dont see why Mali and Guinea couldnt follow suit.......so my personal choices are Mali (This country already has enough talent and has shown flashes.....but must gain consistency.....I feel that alot of what happened to them in the qualifiers was bad luck....but still.....it was unacceptable).....and DRC (A population of 60 million...football loving country.....once were the giants of Africa...and glory is more attainable when you have achieved it before.......in my opinion.....the talent is already there.....it just needs to be nurtured)

The next team to emerge will be Mali, they have a decent team in the last 2 edition of the Nation's cup and were a good team, with the emergence of Mohammed Sisoko and Mahmadou Diarra, to name a few, they will be ones to watch in the qualifiers

^^ they didnt qualify to the last ACN....
i think it will be Guinea (the one that was in the last ACN)...

^^ i was gonna say guniea too, they looked good in ACN2006

but certainly Mali is the more talented team....and I mean Mali finished fourth in 2004 and 2002....so theyve performed....but their qualification campaign was disasterous.

the west africans all have that natural athleticism and all west african countries seem to be producing a lot of talent lately, but I will go with Mali or Ghana(they are not a power yet)

Mali do have the potential but it seems to me that that has been the case for ages now...

I have to agree about teams from Southern Africa though...the strides that have been made since the introduction of the COSAFA tournament appear to have dwindled...but really, the only footballing nations from the region worthy of note have always been Zambia and South Africa...and Angola in recent times. But in terms of potential, Zimbabwe do have what it takes to step up and they showed a flash of that in beating a highly rated Ghana in the last Nations Cup.

But to answer the question, look no further than West Africa for the next emerging team.

Mail and Guinea imo

Sissoko and Diarra could become an amazing center midfield tandem. They are in my top 5 best players from Africa. Also, with Kanoute I always think how aren't these guys in the World Cup.

Well the Mali fans threatened or berated him (pretty sure threatened) Kanoute for his play I believe so he decided to quit the international team all together.

As Ghana have showed us......having a decent midifield only is not enough.


EDIT: On the topic of Ghana....I have been forced to eat humble pie rather quickly

lol, you got any left?

Nigeria IMO, they came second to Messi, whoops, I mean 'Argentina' in the U-20 World Cup, and as we know, those players are the future of World football.

Nigeria is already considered a power.

ya us and Ivory Coast will be around for a long time I think....Cameroon does need some new players though......but see the difference between Ghana's midfield and Mali's midfield is that Ghana can be creative...while Sissoko and the Diarras do not fill that description.

More central African countries like Angola and DR Congo are making a name for themselves because their countries are recovering from major wars. and I agree about Mali, they're on the up.

Wow, Ghana has really impressed me this world cup...

Incredibly strong midfield & a bunch of talented players like Appiah, Essien, Kuffour, Muntari , I'm surprised that they weren't seen as much of a threat at the WC! Also, they've good a good number of players in the French league which is a plus as well.

I reckon Ghana will be the first African nation to win the WC. So them

I agree, but i wouldn't be surprised if Ivory Coast won it before them.

I think it will be Nigeria or Ivory Coast....looking at the current crop of players....these two have the potential to produce a team that is good in all areas.....the youth players currently stepping up to the next level for The Super Eagles and the Elephants...are among the best in the world in my opinion......but....if any team is to win the World Cup....I am almost positive...it will be West African

nononono
of course it will be Egypt that time I will be the captain of the national team....
and btw, if they made a new World Cup tomorow IN EGYPT, Egypt will win it