{"id":30246,"date":"2026-03-29T12:13:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=30246"},"modified":"2026-03-29T12:13:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T10:13:38","slug":"kalusha-bwalya-optimistic-about-africas-world-cup-prospects-despite-tough-challenge","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/kalusha-bwalya-optimistic-about-africas-world-cup-prospects-despite-tough-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Kalusha Bwalya optimistic about Africa\u2019s World Cup prospects despite tough challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"x_elementToProof\" data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">The former African Footballer of the Year believes the expanded format offers the continent a stronger platform to make a meaningful impact on the global stage.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\"><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">With Africa\u2019s representation almost doubling at the 2026 showpiece in the United States, Mexico and Canada, Bwalya says there is fresh hope of surprise results and deeper runs into the knockout stages. South Africa (SA) are among the African qualifiers, alongside Senegal, Morocco, Egypt, Ivory Coast and Ghana.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\"><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">Bwalya reflected on how limited African participation was during his playing days. \u201cOf course, we always stand a better chance now,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen we used to play, there were two African teams in the 1980s, then three in the 1990s. Now we have had five since the early 2000s, and the difference is that we are exposed to top teams from all over the world.\u201d<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\"><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">He cautioned that qualification alone does not guarantee success, noting that African teams still face difficult group stage assignments. \u201cSometimes the draw looks favourable, and sometimes it looks unfavourable,\u201d Bwalya said. \u201cOften African teams are grouped with one European team, possibly a South American team, and then an Asian or CONCACAF side.\u201d<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\"><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">With SA drawn alongside hosts Mexico and South Korea, and awaiting a final opponent from Europe, Bwalya hopes Hugo Broos\u2019 side can rise to the challenge. \u201cI hope Bafana will be up to the task when they play Mexico and South Korea, and possibly Denmark,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\"><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\">Bwalya believes results against European opposition could prove decisive. \u201cYou need a favourable result against a European team, preferably a draw, and then you have to take maximum points against the other teams,\u201d he added. \u201cThe South American teams are always very strong.\u201d<\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"x_elementToProof\"><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;SABCSport\/ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":16412,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-30246","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Zambian football legend Kalusha Bwalya says African teams should approach the 2026 FIFA World Cup with optimism, while recognising that the tournament will be far from straightforward.\u00a0","published_date":"","news_description":"Zambian football legend Kalusha Bwalya says African teams should approach the 2026 FIFA World Cup with optimism, while recognising that the tournament will be far from straightforward.\u00a0","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30247,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30246\/revisions\/30247"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=30246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}