The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has concluded its three day Strategy Conference in Santa Maria, Sal Island, Cabo Verde, with a renewed focus on building on Africa’s performance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and strengthening preparations for the 2030 tournament.
The conference brought together presidents and senior officials from CAF’s 54 Member Associations, national team coaches, technical experts and football administrators to assess Africa’s progress and identify areas requiring improvement.
CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe led the discussions, which also featured Cabo Verde Head of State Dr Janira Hopffer Almada and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
The meeting followed what CAF described as Africa’s strongest collective performance at a World Cup, with 10 African nations participating in the expanded 2026 tournament and nine reportedly advancing from the group stage.
Morocco’s run to the quarter finals for a second successive World Cup and Cabo Verde’s progress beyond the group stage on its tournament debut provided key reference points for discussions about the continent’s future in international football.
The conference focused on translating those achievements into long term improvements in coaching, youth development, technical preparation, administration and the commercial sustainability of football across Africa.
Motsepe urged African football leaders to move beyond planning and ensure that commitments translate into measurable results.
“There is a big gap between good plans, good intentions and what we do practically in terms of investments and results. We are judged by results,” he told delegates.
The CAF president also reiterated his ambition for an African nation to win the FIFA World Cup.
“We have to win the World Cup. We are going to win the World Cup. One of the nations from Africa will win the World Cup,” he said.
CAF said one of the conference’s central objectives was to make football across all 54 Member Associations world class and financially sustainable, while improving the quality and competitiveness of its continental competitions.
Delegates also examined ways to increase investment in national associations, strengthen coaching structures, improve youth development programmes and expand commercial and broadcasting partnerships.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino praised the progress made by African teams and highlighted the contrast between the continent’s performance at the 2018 and 2026 World Cups.
He noted that no African team advanced beyond the group stage in 2018, compared with nine of the 10 participating nations in 2026.
Infantino stressed the importance of continued investment in infrastructure, development programmes and opportunities for African players to compete at the highest level.
“The road to 2030 begins now,” he said, underlining the need for sustained preparation ahead of the next World Cup.
The conference’s final day placed particular emphasis on technical analysis, with FIFA Chief of Global Football Development Arsène Wenger joining coaches and analysts to examine the performances of African teams.
Discussions covered tactical organisation, chance creation, counter pressing, transitions and the management of matches in their closing stages.
Wenger said African teams had improved significantly in their defensive organisation and tactical discipline, making them more difficult opponents.
“In the past, African teams sometimes lost because of a lack of compactness, too much distance between the lines and inconsistent concentration,” he said.
“At this World Cup, it was difficult to beat any African team because the discipline and organisation were at the top level.”
However, Wenger cautioned that small mistakes could determine the outcome of closely contested matches.
“We are very close, but a small percentage can cost you the game. Most of these games were lost by one goal, so every detail in the modern game becomes absolutely vital,” he added.
His assessment reinforced the conference’s emphasis on improving the finer aspects of preparation rather than relying solely on talent and individual ability.
Coaches who worked with African teams at the World Cup, including Bubista, Emerse Fae, Mohamed Ouahbi and Sébastien Desabre, also shared their experiences.
Their contributions focused on tournament preparation, tactical flexibility, player management and the challenges of competing against some of the world’s leading football nations.
Bubista, who guided Cabo Verde during its historic World Cup campaign, highlighted the importance of having different tactical approaches depending on the circumstances of a match.
“We cannot think about only one strategy,” he said.
“We have to have more than one strategy, one when we don’t have the ball, another when we have the ball, and another when we cannot attack quickly.”
Cabo Verde’s campaign provided a practical example of the progress being discussed at the conference. The island nation made its World Cup debut and advanced from the group stage before losing 3 to 2 to Argentina after extra time.
The country’s achievement also gave added significance to its role as host of the gathering, offering delegates an example of how preparation, organisation and investment can help smaller football nations compete internationally.
Addressing the conference, Dr Hopffer Almada highlighted the importance of combining talent with effective structures, organisation and confidence in African expertise.
The discussions concluded with a broader focus on ensuring that the continent’s World Cup achievements lead to lasting improvements throughout its football system.
While Africa’s performance in 2026 demonstrated the growing competitiveness of its national teams, CAF’s challenge is to ensure that the progress is sustained through better coaching, stronger youth pathways, improved administration and consistent investment.
The conference therefore placed the focus on the period leading to 2030, with African football leaders seeking to build on recent successes and improve the continent’s ability to compete for the sport’s biggest prize.
For CAF, the next phase will depend on how effectively national associations translate the conference’s discussions into practical programmes and measurable progress across African football.
