From street pitches to global stadiums: the African football pipeline
The continent produces some of the world's most sought-after players. A look at how talent is found, trained and, too often, exported before it can play at home.
Every evening, on dusty pitches and in school yards across the continent, young players learn the game with whatever ball they have. A small number of them will reach professional academies; fewer still will end up in the stadiums of Europe, Asia and the Americas. The path between the two is where the story of African football is told.
Talent and the academy
Football academies, some run by local clubs and others by foreign ones, now sit at the centre of the pipeline. At their best, they combine coaching with schooling and give players a route to professional contracts. At their worst, they promise more than they can deliver and leave young people without a plan if the career does not work out.
A continent of competitions
The Africa Cup of Nations, played since 1957, remains the continent's defining tournament. The women's game has grown with its own continental competition, and other sports are following: the Basketball Africa League, launched in 2021 by FIBA and the NBA, has put professional basketball on a new footing.
The women's game
The Africa Women Cup of Nations has been played since 1991, and its rise has changed expectations at home. Young girls now see professional careers as a possibility. Investment in leagues, coaching and facilities has not kept pace with enthusiasm, and the gap between the best-funded national teams and the rest remains wide.
The aim is not to stop players from leaving. It is to give them reasons to return.
Global stage, local roots
When Morocco reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup, the first African team to do so, it showed what a coherent national project can achieve. It also highlighted the role of the diaspora: many players born and trained abroad choose to represent their parents' countries.
The challenge for the next decade is to keep more of the value at home: better local leagues, fair transfer rules, and coaching and infrastructure that make staying a real option.
Beyond the pitch
Football's influence reaches into fashion, music, broadcasting and local business. A match day supports vendors, taxi drivers and street artists. Cities that treat stadiums and neighbourhood pitches as public assets, not only as venues for elite competition, tend to see the benefits spread.