England are no new name to African sides at the FIFA World Cup. The Three Lions have played eight games across eight different cities in seven different countries in four different continents against teams from Africa. They have played against North, West and Central African opponents. In all, England has won five and drawn three.
Here, Sportsworldghana.com takes you through a 40-year battle between the European giants and Africa ahead of Ghana’s clash on Tuesday.
1. Mexico 86
England 0 v 0 Morocco
Group stage
Venue: Estadio Tecnológico, Monterrey
Attendance: 20,200
Date: 6th June 1986
England had a first taste of an African opponent during the 13th edition of the FIFA World Cup. In a group alongside Northern Ireland and Spain, Morocco commenced their campaign with a goalless draw against Poland at Estadio Universitario at San Nicolas de los Garza. Four days later, Jose Faria’s side squared off against Bobby Robson’s England in Monterrey at Estadio Tecnologico, which had talented players like skipper Bryan Robson, Gary Lineker, Chris Waddle, John Barnes, Glenn Hoddle and Peter Shilton and drew goalless. Morocco became the first African side to top a group at the FIFA World Cup after beating Portugal 3-1 in the final group game, while England smashed Poland 3-0 in their final group game to book a knockout stage slot. The Atlas Lions lost 1-0 to West Germany in the round of 16 through Lothar Matthaus’ 88th-minute strike. Lineker’s brace and Peter Beardsley’s strike helped England beat Paraguay 3-0 to set up a crunch quarter-final tie against eventual winners Argentina. Maradona’s brace, including the famous ‘Hand of God’ goal at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, condemned England to a 2-1 defeat to end their campaign.
2. Italia 90
England 1-0 Egypt
Group stage:
Venue: Stadio Sant’Elia, Cagliari
Attendance: 34, 959
Date: 21 June 1990
Group F pitted England, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands and Egypt. Egypt, which was the first team from Africa to play at the World Cup in 1934, returned to the world stage after missing out for an astonishing 56 years. Egypt, on matchday one in Palermo, drew 1-1 against the much-fancied Netherlands led by Ronald Koeman, Erwin Koeman, Frank Rijkaard, Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullit under the tutelage of Leo Beenhakker. The result was scintillating as it looked encouraging. Mahmoud El-Gohary’s charges drew goalless against the Republic of Ireland on matchday two at Stadio La Favorita in Palermo again. On 21st June 1990, it was a must-win for the Pharaohs and the Three Lions of England, who had already drawn against the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands as well. Ahmed Shobair, father of current Egyptian number one goalkeeper, Oufa, was manning the post for Egypt. Current head coach Hossam Hassan and twin brother Ibrahim Hassan, alongside Hany Ramzy and Ahmed El-Kass, all started. Mark Wright’s 58th-minute strike separated the two sides after Mahmoud El Gohary’s Egypt had worked hard to tame the threat posed by Gary Lineker, John Barnes, Paul Gascoigne, Chris Waddle, Steve McMahon and Stuart Pearce. It was the end of the road for the brave Egyptian side after finishing bottom of the group.
3. Italia 90
England 3-2 Cameroon after extra time.
Quarter finals
Venue: Stadio San Paolo, Naples
Attendance: 55,205
Date: 1 July 1990
After beating Egypt to secure a knockout slot, England faced Cameroon, led by the imperious 38-year-old Roger Milla and skipper Stephen Tataw. Stars like Emmanuel Kunde, Joseph-Antoine Bell, Kana-Biyik, Oman-Biyik, Bonaventure Njonkep, Cyril Makanaky, among many other talented players, had shocked Argentina, the defending champions who were spearheaded by the legendary Diego Maradona. They beat Argentina 1-0 in the opening game of the tournament; the Indomitable Lions defeated Romania 2-1 and, calamitously, lost 4-0 to the Soviet Union, yet topped the group. Then came Colombia in the round of 16, where veteran Roger Milla’s brace in extra time helped them to win 2-1 over the South Americans. Cameroon was filled with confidence heading into England’s fixture. Russia coach Valery Nepomnyashchy was optimistic his Central African side would eliminate England, who had blown hot and cold in the group stage, even though they won comfortably against Paraguay in the round of 16. David Platt at the Stadio San Paolo in Naples, in front of 55, 205 spectators, put England ahead in the 25th minute. Emmanuel Kunde equalised via penalty kick in the 61st minute. Ekeke, after four minutes, stunned England by putting Cameroon ahead. England were heading out of the tournament after the Africans had defended pretty well until Lineker converted an 83rd-minute penalty to level the game at 2-2. In the extra time, England was awarded another penalty, which Lineker once again converted to make it 3-2. Cameroon could not bounce back as the Europeans protected their lead and qualified for the semi-finals, where they lost to West Germany on penalties, with Pearce and Waddle missing from the 12th yards.
4. France 98
England 2 v 0 Tunisia
Group stage
Venue: Stade Vélodrome, Marseille
Attendance: 55,000
Date: 15 June 1998
Glenn Hoddle’s England opened their 1998 campaign at Marseille’s famous Stade Vélodrome, where they comfortably won 2-0 with Paul Scholes and Alan Shearer scoring in either half of the game against Tunisia. Polish coach Henry Kasperczak did not have superstars in his Tunisian team, but with decent players like Hatem Trabelsi, Sami Trabelsi, Khais Ghodbhane, Jose Clayton, Adel Sellimi and Mehdi Ben Slimane, you could never count Tunisia out. England, as usual, came to the 1998 World Cup with stars: Alan Shearer, Sol Campbell, David Seaman, Paul Ince, Teddy Sherringham, Paul Scholes, and young striker Michael Owen, but failed to make an impact after finishing second to Romania, whom they lost 2-1 to. The Three Lions lost on penalties to Argentina in the round of 16 after a gruelling 2-2 in 120 minutes.
5. Korea/Japan 2002
England 0-0 Nigeria
Group stage
Venue: Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan.
Attendance: 44, 864
Date: 12 June 2002
Nigeria had lost against Argentina (1-0), and Sweden (2-1), so facing England was a complete dead rubber for the West Africans. England had won four points after drawing with Sweden (1-1) and beating Argentina (1-0) and was in a good position to qualify. A draw for the Three Lions against Nigeria and a draw for Sweden against Argentina was definitely going to eliminate the highly rated South Americans. Sven Goran Eriksen started Owen and Heskey in attack with Sinclair and Beckham serving as classic wingers. Scholes, Butt, Ferdinand and Campbell started for England. Nigeria had nothing to lose but faced England with serious determination. Festus Onigbinde paired Okoronkwo and Sodje in the centre-back role, with Yobo and Udeze playing as right back and left back respectively. Jay Jay Okocha and Aghahowa all started. Nigeria put up a spirited performance against England. The Three Lions thrashed Denmark 3-0 in round 16 before being eliminated by Brazil through Ronaldinho’s famous freekick against Seaman in the quarter-finals.
6. South Africa 2010
England 0-0 Algeria
Group stage
Venue: Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
Attendance: 64, 100
Date: 18th June 2010
Fabio Capello’s England was so dull in South Africa. They started their campaign with a 1-1 draw against USA, where Gerrard’s 4th-minute goal was cancelled by Clint Dempsey’s 40th-minute strike. England on matchday 2 drew goalless against Rabah Saadane’s inconsistent Algerian side who had calamitously lost 1-0 to Slovenia. Heskey and Rooney’s partnership failed to blossom; Gerrard and Lennon did not impress much from the wings, while Lampard and Barry in the double pivot role showed many loopholes. Algeria, with Bougherra, Halliche and Yahia in the centre-back roles, impressed after preventing the English attackers from scoring. Algeria, in the final group game, lost to Donovan’s 91st-minute strike against USA and got eliminated, while Defoe’s 23rd-minute strike earned England an uninspiring 1-0 win over Slovenia. England in the round of 16 was pulverised 4-1 by the young German side led by Joaquim Lowe.
7. Russia 2018
Tunisia 1 v 2 England
Group Stage
Venue: Volgograd Arena, Volgograd
Attendance: 41, 064
Date: 18 June 2018
Gareth Southgate, in his first major tournament as English coach, had one objective – to make England believe again! With talented players like Kane, Sterling, Walker and Ali at his disposal, he was certain England was going to do well. The Three Lions began their campaign with a 2-1 win over Tunisia, with Harry Kane opening his World Cup scoring account in the 11th minute. Ferjani Sassi through spot kick put Tunisia level in the 35th minute. Having defended well through the entire 90 minutes, Tunisia thought they had secured a point only to concede a late penalty in the 91st minute, which was converted by Kane. England reached the last four for the first time since the 1990 World Cup, which served as a springboard for subsequent tournaments under Southgate, where they played two finals (Euro 2020 and 2024). Tunisia lost to Belgium and beat Panama in the final game.
8. Qatar 2022
England 3-0 Senegal
Round 16
Venue: Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor
Attendance: 65, 985
Date: 4 December 2022
Goals from Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka condemned Aliou Cisse’s Senegal to a 3-0 defeat in round 16 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. It is the last game England has played against an African opponent at the FIFA World Cup. Senegal finished second in a group alongside the Netherlands, Ecuador and host nation Qatar. Sadio Mane missed the tournament due to injury, so the team was short in terms of quality and leadership. Iddrisa Gana Gueye, who was supposed to lead the midfield, was suspended after receiving a yellow card in the final group game victory over Ecuador, leaving the midfield so porous. England was fully prepared with all the stars available to Southgate. Kane, Bellingham, Foden, Saka and Rice all started, and they dully brushed the Africans aside easily to set up a quarter-final clash against France, where they lost 2-1.
