• the colonial era still determines Africas scene today: from the artificial states to the economical situation
• anglophone vs. francophone football: yet the former English colonies have been more successful
• West African magicians vs. organized North Africans: especially the football of the first mentioned is changing towards 'Europeanization'
• East- Central and Southern Africans with a more pragmatic football
• European based professionals vs. home based players and coaching staff - different attitudes, different styles
• Fast development also of the basis: Information on the game via TV is absorbed unconciously and normally today
• football schools will effect the African game in the next decades

 Africa's football history and thus even presence has been predetermined by the colonialisation and its effects. First of all the countries we know today would not have existed without the European occupation of the continent. They do not represent neither the peoples, nor the languages. Like Nigeria, most countries consist of different ethinics with different languages and different backgrounds, for Europeans most easily to compare to states like the former big Yugoslavia, before 1990. What already says something about the problems that occur from such constructions.
 Adding to mixed ethnies are the ties to the former colonial superpowers. Apart from Egypt, Ethiopia, and Liberia those countries did not come into being before the wave of independance around 1960. Although the colonial powers had brought football to Africa, they avoided anything that could have built a national identity. In most countries they used one people to control the others. So African football history, especially the one of National selections just began in the 1960's. The first two African Nations Cups had had only three participiants and the first real African World Cup qualification with an own African place at the finals to play for was the one for 1970.

 Many African leaders have recognized since football as one of the few appropriate tools for Nation building, as a vehicle that makes the idea of National identity concious to their peoples. A famous example is Mobutu and his early support for the Zaire team around 1970. A report on this issue can be found in two 2000 issues of the magazine 'African Soccer'.

 It had been of course the English colonies who had been first dominating the scene. Egypt had already developed a long tradition with Olympic successes and a World Cup participation before the second world war and thus dominated the scene in the beginning with the former English colony of Sudan and Ethiopia, only occupied by Italians from 1935-1942. The most talent though grew from West Africa, and the former English colonies Ghana with very soon success and Nigeria with underachievement nevertheless began to dominate the scene soon. In 1965 the first former French colonies started to smell success and in 1968 the first non-English colony won the Nations Cup. English and French have left different ideas and attitudes towards the game and anglophone Africa has been more successful at the Nations Cup. But not all stories are that simple: Cameroon had been occupied by Germany and after the first world war been devided among British and French. 

 Two even more contrastive poles are the styles of North African football and West African football. It is a bit dangerous to distribute such commonplaces but West Africans have been more magicians and especially in the recent past physically strong athletes whereas the strength of the North Africans is their organisation and cooperative game. While the North African football has developed in a consistent tempo, the game of the rest of Africa has changed more drastically in recent past. The 'chaos' on the field of past generations which had either been utilized by European counterparts (big defeats for Zaire 1974, but also for Cameroon against Russia 1990 and 1994) or had puzzled them (Cameroon 1990 for example showed both faces especially in that legendary quarter final against England) has been abandoned in favour of an adaption of the kinds of organisation and approach the players have learned in their European clubs. With the side-effect that their surprise potential has decreased as they offer a familiar face to European opponents now.

 But this does not count in the African Cup Of Nations. Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon have switched to teams consisting in majority of Europe stars, a conversion in attitude and style. This creates problems with their home administrations. Players do not get the comfort they are used to, they feel to have received a better education in Europe than football officials and even coaches in their country and sometimes refuse to listen to them. And they are accused of not serving the country as committed as they should from the other sides.
 At least those teams avoid another problem: In former generations and in smaller football nations there has been also a gap between those professionals and home based players, reflected in a constant media discussion whether to include or exclude abroad playing stars at all.

 Nevertheless the football has developed fast, also with knowledge drawn from European football. But another fact might be underestimated: the learning through TV. It is not reflected but watching football on TV makes a lot of difference. And TV has arrived later at homes in Africa than Europe. This might be an explaination why there have been conspicious tactical progresses in the game of non-top-class teams. Remarkably the blunders have decreased from Nations Cup and Nations Cup and even the talent-deprived clubs (expatriation to Europe) play a quite decent game. Last proven by Raja Casablanca: Though the best African players move from Africa to Europe, making European teams stronger and African teams weaker, Raja gave Real a real scare at the World Club Championships.

 Though the money gap has dramatically increased and though a huge player expatriation especially from West Africa has taken place, West Africa could be prognosted to produce the first World Champion of the continent once. Despite the involvement of many former stars into the process has been neglected a lot of initiatives surprise like the forming of many football schools. Some of those schools are trying to develop their own ideology. Whether the former West African flamboyance that could last be seen with Côte d'Ivoire 1998 will survive Europeanisation of the game reamins to be seen.

 East- Central and Southern Africans play a more pragmatic style than the like from the West. So they have been found recently as easily adoptable for the European game. Example are the increasing number of players from that regions in German professional football. 
 North Africans in the meantime have constantly improved structures and organisation especially off the field and because of this they have been able to match the rapid development of the rest of Africa and still claim their share of success.

 Climate and circumstanzes is an important factor, but it does not necessarily determine the outcome: Though the last Nations Cup 1998 already has taken place in West Africa, the winners have been Egypt.