While it is clear that Africa has largely underachieved on the global stage, some of her representatives have put in strong performances at World Cups.

Here are some of the more impressive outings by African countries.

Algeria 1982

Despite controversially failing to advance beyond the Group Stage, Algeria made history in two ways.

First, they became the first African team to defeat a former World Cup champion, defeating an arrogant Germany 2-1 in the opening match. Second, despite winning two of their three matches, the manner in which they exited prompted FIFA to change its round-robin scheduling rules.

Algeria believed they had done enough to advance after shocking Germany and beating Chile 3-2. However, Austria and Germany played out a cooperative, disgraceful 1-0 result in the final group match, ensuring that they both qualified instead. The public in Gijon could see it as well, and they protested by waving white handkerchiefs.

Although they did not advance, the Algerian team of Rabah Madjer, Lakhdar Belloumi, and others captured the imagination. Following the injustice they experienced, FIFA mandated that all final group matches be played simultaneously.

Cameroon 1990

The Indomitable Lions established the gold standard of African World Cup performance in 1990.

They made their intentions clear early on, defeating reigning world champions Argentina 1-0 in a brutal, hard-fought match before defeating Romania to advance to the Round of 16. They then beat Colombia in extra time thanks to the quick thinking of star forward Roger Milla, becoming the first African country to reach the World Cup quarter-finals.

There, they led England 2-1 going into the final 10 minutes before committing two penalties either side of the full-time whistle, resulting in an extra-time defeat.

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