The World Cup action is now in full swing after a forgettable start off the pitch. For Africans and some neutrals, interest is on teams from a continent that has been eluded by World Cup success since the first competition in 1930.
If an African team fails to win this year's contest, it will mark a century of failure when the next tournament is held in 2030. There are no immediate signs to indicate a vertiginous shift as Africa still lags behind and lacks the cutting edge to lift the 18 carat gold trophy.
The furthest an African team has progressed was four years ago when Morocco reached the semi finals.
Africa's dilemma presents a paradox. The continent consistently produces world-class players who excel in Europe's top leagues, yet national teams have struggled to translate that individual success into deep World Cup runs.
While the technical gap between African teams and traditional football powers has narrowed significantly over the years, the impact on the pitch has not told much about the closing difference.
The perception that African teams lack technical quality is increasingly outdated. Modern African footballers are developed in some of the world's best academies and compete at the highest levels of the game.
Players from countries such as Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Algeria, and Ivory Coast regularly feature in top European leagues.
As a result, African national teams today are far more tactically aware, physically prepared and technically skilled than they were several decades ago.
Morocco's historic run to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup demonstrated how far African football has progressed. The Atlas Lions defeated Belgium, Spain and Portugal, proving that African teams can compete with and overcome football's traditional giants.
Similarly, Senegal's quarter-final appearance in 2002 and Ghana's heart-breaking quarter-final exit in 2010 showed that African nations possess the talent required to challenge top footballing nations.
Despite these dotted successes, there is still an overwhelming feeling that the continent is still some tournaments away from lifting the coveted trophy.
Every World Cup tournament, most of Africa's representative arrive as underdogs. This year there are 10 representatives from Africa, and only Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal and Morocco are genuine contenders, not for the trophy but a deep run.
Others are there to make numbers or at least in the case of Egypt and may be South Africa, to emerge from the group stages. The target should be more than just a deep run, but laying hands on the ultimate prize.
Africa has been a conveyor belt of prodigious talent over the years, and therefore it baffles how they constantly fall flat at the biggest stage. One had to watch the game between Cote d'Ivoire against Germany on Saturday to see how talented African nations are.
The West Africans had the former champions on the ropes for long periods, but were surprisingly profligate in front of goal, spurning gilt-edged chances until they were punished at the death.
Ultimately, Africa's World Cup challenge is no longer primarily about talent or technical ability. That they have in abundance, there is something deeper than that, which could include inferiority complex or lack of self-belief.
