Africa could break the glass ceiling of winning the World Cup in the next 10 years, partly thanks to a platform highlighting to foreign clubs the most talented youth from the continent, the co-founder has boldly claimed to AFP.

Morocco’s surprise run to the 2022 World Cup semi-finals sparked hopes that such a moment is not far off.

Benjamin Balkin, though, thinks Eyeball, the digital platform he co-founded in 2020, could be the determining factor in ensuring that happens as it provides a shop window for talent which would previously have been missed.

Balkin cheerfully describes himself as a “failed footballer” having played in the academy of French club Monaco but was told he would fall short in the senior ranks.

As a Monaco ballboy, Balkin marvelled at the skills of Ivory Coast superstar Yaya Toure and Togo’s Emmanuel Adebayor.

It was the spark that lit the fuse and has years later resulted in Eyeball investing in an Under-19 championship for Senegalese academies, United Future League, in Senegal.

That is one part of their investment as they also provide video cameras to 5,000 youth coaches globally, who film training sessions and add tags to individual players which are then placed on the platform.

High-profile clubs like German champions Bayer Leverkusen and Chelsea can access the footage.

It costs clubs just 92 euros ($97) a day to be able to scout 30,000 players across Africa.

Balkin, born in France to Danish parents, says by moving abroad the players grow in every sense which ultimately benefits their national sides.

“Those players leaving African academies and going to European or American academies, their football understanding skills, IQ will improve, because of just a better level of training, better infrastructure,” Balkin told AFP from Copenhagen.

“When those players come back and play for the national team, the national teams will also benefit from that and perform probably at a better level.

“So maybe if we speak again in 10 years, we’ll have an African nation that has won the World Cup, that wouldn’t be surprising.”

‘Much more transparent’

Balkin’s friend and now colleague Oliver Durr Dehnhardt experienced how difficult it was to acquire African talent when he was a scout at Dutch giants Ajax.

“We made a partnership with Cape Town FC in South Africa for a few years,” he told AFP.

“It didn’t work out. We got one player out of it and it was still too messy.

“So in the end, before Eyeball, the idea in Africa was, let’s wait until they come to Europe and then we just need to accept that we will have to pay 10, 15, 20 million euros for them.”

The 30-year-old Dane said that picture was transformed when Eyeball, who say they are the only players in this market, came on the scene.

“In my later stage at Ajax, we were starting to look actively in Africa because Eyeball enabled that for us,” he said.

“With the United Future League, they actually built the structure that was missing and gave us the opportunity to see the players a year, year-and-a-half before they made their senior debut.

“So all of a sudden, we were able to replicate the process that we have in Europe to Africa.”

In years gone by there have been plentiful stories of young talent brought to Europe by unscrupulous agents and when they fail to make it are left to fend for themselves, often condemned to sleeping on the streets.

Balkin, 26, believes such behaviour is now “outdated” but Eyeball provides a safety net.

“It certainly made things much more transparent,” he said.

“That’s the biggest thing. So throughout the system, you’re actually able to get correct information on players.

“So first of all, like, when are they born? What is the nationality?

“Clubs and scouts are able to reach out directly to other clubs down there in Africa without having to go through intermediaries.”

Balkin highlights the story of 19-year-old Assane Ouedraogo, who through the platform earned a move from his Ivory Coast club San Pedro to Charlotte in the MLS, although he is currently on loan at MLS Next Pro side Crown Legacy FC.

“With the sign-on bonus, he was able to buy a house for his parents.”

-AFP

Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H

Olé, an Argentine national daily sports newspaper published in Buenos Aires has hailed Morocco as an ultimate destination for football and football competitions.

After an explorative visit to the North African kingdom, the publication concluded that Moroccans have almost the same passion for football as the Argentines.

“The African country feels football like we do and is preparing to host the 2030 World Cup.”

Continuing, the publication asserts that “there is a champion in every neighbourhood” is a slogan that runs through the streets of Rabat, the capital of Morocco and is also heard in Casablanca, Marrakech, Tangier and every city in the North African country, which will host the African Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup.

Olé’s correspondent was able to walk among mosques, stadiums under construction, La Medina (historic centre), the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, monuments and many – many with emphasis – football pitches.

Football was palpable. “There, as here, the sport of football is in the air: wherever you look, there is one, be it in a square, on the beach, on a 5-a-side football pitch or in the incredible high-level training centre. Morocco dreams big and is preparing to make history.”

The 2030 World Cup will begin in the South American trio Argentina-Uruguay-Paraguay, with one match in each country, and the rest will be played in the European trio Spain-Morocco-Portugal.

Morocco is preparing for the African Cup of Nations, which it will host in late 2025 and early 2026, and also for the 2030 World Cup, and Olé was there touring the fields that are being built: Tangier, Hassan II and Prince Moulay Abdellah. Video: @maxifriggieri

Six countries, three continents. As unprecedented as it is culturally varied. 

Olé emphasised that “Morocco is precisely an example of this conjunction of customs: it is a land where Arab, African and also Western history converge. There is everything.”

 Four languages ​​are spoken normally: French, Arabic, Spanish and English.

“Their religion is Islam, but with an interpretation of the Koran is not as radical as seen in other parts of the Arab world.

“The role of women is extremely important. They pray, yes. There are mosques, of course. But everyone is welcome. For example, football does not differentiate between languages, ideologies or religions.”

In Morocco, the form of government is a monarchy where King Mohammed VI has been the leader for 26 years. “His vision of the country’s growth goes hand in hand with sporting development, with football as its banner”, reports Olé.

 For example, one of the leaders the king trusts is Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), member of the FIFA Council and Minister of the Budget of Morocco.

“We can be champions in 2026, Fouzi Lekjaa tells Olé

He spoke to Olé and made clear the ambition of the Atlas Lions: 

“We can be champions in 2026,” he said, without waiting for ‘his’ Cup in 2030.

In Qatar 2022, Morocco made history. They broke the “mental barrier” – as Fouzi says – of just going to compete and reached the semi-finals, winning their group over Croatia and Belgium, eliminating Spain, Cristiano Ronaldo ‘s Portugal and falling, controversially, to France. 

Argentina then avenged them. According to Olé, Argentines and Moroccans were the two most important fan bases at the last World Cup.

Morocco and a connection with Argentina

Continuing, the publication reports that “history links Argentina and Morocco somewhat in terms of football.”

There are three friendlies between the teams, all with Albiceleste victories: 3-1 in 1994 in Salta with a goal from Diego Maradona, 1-0 in 2004 in Casablanca (Bielsa was the coach) and 1-0 in 2019 in Tangier (already with Scaloni in charge).

But that’s not all. Diego played a Peace Match in 2015 in Marrakech and another for charity in El Aiaiún (Western Sahara) in 2016. 

Messi also visited the country: he scored three goals in a friendly in 2012, where Barcelona beat Raja Casablanca 8-0, and he also went on vacation to Marrakech with his family in 2023.

Leo also sent a post-earthquake message in 2023. The only stain was at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, a chaotic match that Morocco won 2-1, with controversies and unusual situations.

In Argentina, too, a phrase by Carlos Salvador Bilardo is remembered, when he said in 1990: “I said it in ’75 when we went to play the Mohamed Cup in Morocco and I said ‘this is where the future of football is. It’s not in Europe, in South America, it’s not in Asia…’ Because people still play.” That statement, from a man ahead of his time, was seen live and in person by Olé. Yes, in Morocco they play football.

Stadiums, infrastructures and academies

Olé was able to see firsthand the construction of stadiums, some remodelled for the African Cup of Nations and others from scratch for the 2030 World Cup. The Grand Stade Hassan II is Morocco’s big novelty.

The Tangier stadium is under renovation.

It will be the largest in the world, with a capacity for 115 thousand people, and is the best to host the World Cup final.

Located on the outskirts of Casablanca, the first phase of construction began, which is excavation and filling. It is surrounded by a forest and will be more than a stadium: it will have hotels, a shopping centre and a station for the high-speed train. The design will be that of an Arab tent.

The Grand Stade de Tangier is being refurbished to hold 75,000 spectators. It is expected to be ready for use in July 2025. It will have hybrid grass, a roof on each stand, 4 changing rooms, VIP lounges and a car park for 5,000 places. The Stade Prince Moulay Abdellah is in Rabat, the capital. It will have a capacity of 68,700 people. It is expected to open in March/April this year.

Travelling around the country, you can also see machinery improving highways, the construction of the largest hospital in Africa, as well as hotels (there are interest-free loans to improve them and, in the process, create jobs), universities… Who is investing?

Many places, such as the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Qatar, France, Saudi Arabia and the United States, as the main ones.

The Mohammed VI Academy Football Complex is a top-level training centre. It has 11 pitches, five hotels, training for players and referees, a general clinic, rehabilitation specialists, the headquarters of FIFA in Africa and even a museum. Real Madrid has its training camp there. It is, of course, the home of the local national teams.

A selection that is a flag

Map of Morocco

Olé reports that Morocco is tradition and innovation, both in what we have been writing about and in its football in the Atlas Lions, who do not lose the culture of their game and improve it with players in the main leagues.

They are not satisfied with what they did in the last World Cup and they are going for more. To do that, they must first qualify for the 2026 World Cup. Africa has nine direct tickets and one to the play-offs.

The qualification is divided into nine groups and the winner of each goes to the World Cup. Morocco leads Group E, having won all three of its matches (there are eight matches in this phase).

They were 2-0 against Tanzania, 2-1 against Zambia and 6-0 against Congo. They are on track to play in their seventh World Cup. Before that, they will seek their second African Cup of Nations: they won it in 1976 and will host it this year.

They are currently 14th in the FIFA rankings, the best African team in the ranking. The extra fact is that the country has a team that will play in the unprecedented Club World Cup this year: Wydad Casablanca, which is in the group with Manchester City, Juventus and Al-Ain.

–Olé

Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H

Argentina great Lionel Messi wants to play in the 2026 World Cup, but is too early to make any official announcements, his national coach Lionel Scaloni said on Thursday.

Scaloni, who led Argentina to the 2022 World Cup title in Qatar, explained the 37-year-old record eight-times Ballon d’Or winner’s desire to remain in the squad.

“The first thing to say is that both he and his teammates are aware that there is a reasonable amount of time left and that he and everyone else are keen to play in the World Cup,” Scaloni told DSPORTS.

“We will have to wait and see how things develop. He (Messi) knows what we are thinking and he is the most intelligent of us all,” the coach added.

Scaloni also spoke about former Argentina forward Angel Di Maria’s decision to retire from international football after winning his second Copa America trophy last year.

“From what he said, it is over. And in the best possible way. If he had written his film, his book, his football story, I don’t think he would have written it as well as he ended it,” Scaloni said.

Reuters

Follow the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H