Is The FIFA World Cup Biased Against African Teams?

It was a few years ago when I was seated in a concert hall listening on my cell phone to the Zambia - Ghana match. A game that would decide which team would move forward to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. Ghana won the game, it was a heart-breaker for all Chipolopolo fans.

As I am writing this Zambia is playing it's first game for the 2018 World Cup Qualifying, it is a game against Nigeria.

Since the qualifiers have rolled back around I decided to do some investigating. I was prompted to do so because during the qualifiers of 2014's World Cup I realized how hard it was for African teams to even just make it into the World Cup; it is actually almost impossible for the majority of teams playing. In the World Cup tournament, as it stands now, 5 African slots are open to be filled. Yes 5, I'm not joking or lying. 5 out of 54 teams will qualify.

Am I not the only one who sees the absurdity in this?

You may be asking yourself, well are African teams good enough to compete in the World Cup? How about you ask Germany who tied 2-2 with Ghana in 2014, Germany went on to win that year. I think it is pretty clear African teams can compete on the same level.

We may have had our first African World Cup in 2010, but it would seem African teams are still short-changed when it comes to qualifying. Look at South American teams for instance, there are only 10, but they have 4.5 slots to fill in the World Cup. 4 teams that qualify and one slot for a team who gets to compete in a playoff. Think of the percentages in this scenario. 40% of the South American teams will qualify. Only around 10% to 11% of the African teams will qualify.

I honestly have no idea why the rules have not been changed. Let African teams actually have the chance to play on the international stage. At this moment in time they are however being stifled by countries who come from better money. Because we all know it is all about the money and not actually about football. It's a sad world we live in and it will continue being that way if something doesn't change.

I'm talking to you FIFA.