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Portal:Football in Africa

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Introduction

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Football in Africa
Cameroon's Benoît Assou-Ekotto jostles for possession with Mustapha Allaoui of Morocco

Football is the most popular sport in Africa, alongside basketball. Indeed, football is probably the most popular sport in every African country, although rugby and cricket are also very popular in South Africa. The first football stadium to be built in Africa was the Alexandria Stadium in 1929.

The English Premier League is the most popular sports league in Africa. The most popular clubs in Africa are Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. (Full article...)

This section is an excerpt from Football in Africa § History.[edit]
Football was first introduced to Africa in the early 1860s by Europeans,[1] due to the colonisation of Africa. The first recorded games were played in South Africa in 1862 between soldiers and civil servants and there were no established rules for the game at this time;[2]" Initially, there were various forms of playing the game, which included elements of both rugby and soccer. It was not until October 26, 1863 that the "rules of association football were codified."[2] The first official football organization in Africa, Pietermaritzburg County Football Association, was established in 1880.Teams were being established in South Africa before 1900, Egypt and in Algeria during a similar time period. Savages FC (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa), L'Oranaise Club (Oran, Algeria) and Gezira SC (Alexandria, Egypt) are the oldest African football clubs that remain in existence. The tree clubs began play in 1882, followed by Alexandria SC (1890), CDJ Oran from Algeria in 1894 and CAL Oran from Algeria too in 1897. By the 1930s, football was being played in Central Africa. In 1882, the first national governing body on the content was formed, South African Football Association (SAFA). SAFA was a whites-only association that became the first member of FIFA in South Africa in 1910.[2]
Egyptian Olympic football team, 1928
As Africa is a highly superstitious continent many African teams depend on witch doctors for success.[3][4][5][6][7] Activities that witch doctors have performed for teams include cutting players, placing potions on equipment, and sacrificing animals.[8]

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The Libya national football team (Arabic: منتخب لِيْبيَا لِكُرَّةُ الْقَدَم) represents Libya in men's international association football and it is controlled by the Libyan Football Federation. The team has never qualified for FIFA World Cup but has qualified for editions of the Africa Cup of Nations in 1982, 2006, and 2012. In 1982, the team was both the host and runner-up. In the Arab Cup, Libya finished second in 1964 and 2012, and third in 1966. The team is affiliated with both FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Due to political circumstances, Libya has typically been less successful in international competition compared to other North African teams like Algeria, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia. Libya has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup and its participation in AFCON is sporadic, having only qualified for three AFCON editions.

Since the 2010s, Libya's global ranking has improved due to the increasing number of Libyan players playing in foreign leagues. In the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, the team recorded their first-ever win in the tournament outside Libya. Their FIFA world ranking rose to a high of 36 in September 2012; Libya then won a gold medal in the 2014 African Nations Championship. However, the Libyan Civil War caused the stoppage of the Libyan Premier League and severely disrupted domestic affairs. Libya was eliminated in the first round of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualification by Rwanda and failed to qualify for the 2016 African Nations Championship as the defending champions.

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Obafemi Martins with Levante in 2012
Obafemi Martins is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a forward for Shanghai Greenland Shenhua and the Nigeria national team. He is known for his speed on the ball.

After leaving Nigeria for Italy at age 16, he has since played for a number of top-division clubs around Europe. He began his senior career in 2002 at the Italian Serie A club Inter Milan, before moving to the English Premier League club Newcastle in 2006, and then the German Bundesliga club Wolfsburg in 2009. Having joined Russian Premier League side Rubin Kazan in July 2010, they loaned him to Birmingham City in January 2011. In 2012, he moved to Spain to play for Levante, spending seven months at the club before joining Seattle Sounders FC in Major League Soccer.

In club football, Martins has won the Italian Serie A title, the Italian Cup (twice), and the Super Cup, all with Inter. With Birmingham he scored the winning goal in the 2011 Football League Cup Final. He has played European football with Inter, Newcastle and Wolfsburg, winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup with Newcastle. His highest scoring league seasons so far have seen him score 11 goals in the 2004–05 Serie A, and 17 2006–07 English Premier League. In international football, Martins has been in the Nigerian squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006, 2008 and 2010, and for the FIFA World Cup in 2010.

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Boys playing street football in Egypt
Boys playing street football in Egypt
Credit: Mohamed Hozyen Ahmed

Boys playing street football in Egypt

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Association football in Africa
Association football clubs in Africa
Association football competitions in Africa
Association football in Africa by country
Women's association football in Africa
African football by decade
African football by year
Seasons in African football
Football in Mayotte
Football in Réunion
Football in Saint Helena
Football in Zanzibar
Football academies in Africa
African footballers
Football at the Afro-Asian Games
African football trophies and awards
Football in North Africa
Futsal in Africa
Association football governing bodies in Africa
History of association football in Africa
Association football leagues in Africa
Association football matches in Africa
African national association football teams

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Sources

  1. ^ "The History Of Soccer In Africa". NPR.org. 2010-06-09. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  2. ^ a b c Alegi, Peter (2010). African Soccerscapes. Ohio University Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 9780896802780.
  3. ^ Frimpong, Enoch Darfah. "Ghana news: A world of superstition, frustration and disillusionment - Graphic Online". Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  4. ^ Lacey, Marc (8 August 2002). "Kangemi Journal; For Spellbinding Soccer, the Juju Man's on the Ball". The New York Times. NY Times. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  5. ^ "World Cup Witchcraft: Africa Teams Turn to Magic for Aid". National Geographic. Archived from the original on July 10, 2006. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  6. ^ Andy Mitten (September 2010). The Rough Guide to Cult Football. Rough Guides UK. ISBN 9781405387965. Retrieved 2016-04-02.
  7. ^ "African Nations Cup overshadowed by hocus pocus | Football". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
  8. ^ Kuper, Simon (2006). Soccer Against the Enemy: How the World's Most Popular Sport Starts and Stops Wars, Fuels Revolutions, and Keeps Dictators in Power. Nation Books. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-56025-878-0.
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