Reasons why Africa has less teams participating at the 2022 world cup in Qatar

 Should Africa have more teams competing in the World Cup?

Despite having 54 member nations in FIFA, football's world governing organization, just five of the 32 teams competing in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be from Africa.

Europe, while being geographically smaller than Asia, Africa, North America, and South America, will have the most, with 13.

With 55 countries, Europe is FIFA's largest bloc. It has always been at the top of the list of World Cup participation.

With 12 titles, it is also the most successful area in the history of football's showcase tournament.

How does it all work out?

If the size is irrelevant, does a region's success impact the number of berths it receives?

The World Cup numbers game is not as straightforward as it appears.

Asia normally has one less space than Africa, but can sometimes have five, thanks to an intercontinental playoff that allows areas to earn an extra berth. At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Australia, which is part of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), won a playoff against Honduras to secure the AFC's fifth place.

This time, Australia qualified after a playoff win over Peru. Asia features six teams in the World Cup due to Qatar's automatic qualification as the host nation.

Football prowess South America is sending four teams to Qatar. Because there were fewer countries in that zone (12), just ten teams competed for the four traditional World Cup slots.

This year, the Confederation of North, and Central America, and the Caribbean Association of Football (CONCACAF) will have four teams.

When is Africa's time?

According to Cameroon legend Patrick Mboma, geographical variances disadvantage Africa in the World Cup matrix.

"It's unjust," Mboma said to Al Jazeera. "Take a look at South America. There are only 10 nations participating in the qualifications, with 4+1 berths available. This provides Argentina and Brazil, for example, with the best opportunities to gain experience and close the gap with other nations on other continents."

The "4+1" he was referring to was regions other than Africa and Europe earning an extra slot from playoffs.

If Peru had defeated Australia in the playoff, they would have been the fifth South American team.

Mboma, a former African Footballer of the Year, represented his country in two World Cups (1998 and 2002). He is also most known for helping Cameroon win back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations titles in 2000 and 2002, as well as gold at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

The 51-year-old, who formerly held his country's goal-scoring record in international football, believes that four spots from the initial qualification tournament are a bad arrangement that gives some African countries an unfair edge.

"We have 54 member associations," the former PSG and Sunderland striker explained. "The favorites of the [qualification] competition will always be the ones with the most experience in World Cup history."

The continent must repair itself.

While many on the continent would like to see more African teams included, individuals in the footballing community are aware of the shortcomings.

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South Africa must "repair" itself, according to Aaron Mokoena, who captained the country at the 2010 World Cup.

The former Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth defender slammed countries whose stadiums had been banned by FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for failing to achieve crucial standards.

Security for spectators remained inadequate, as did medical and technical facilities on the sites.

"I believe it is critical for Africa to have more teams at the World Cup because if we want African players to progress, they need to compete against the best," Mokoena told Al Jazeera.

"We need to improve our football before we can seek more World Cup slots." It is critical that we investigate infrastructural issues. It's not nice to have a national team playing away from home. And it's not just one, two, or three countries; multiple countries on the continent are forced to play home games overseas [due to a lack of facilities at home].

"The second thing we need to consider is development." If we want to send more teams to the World Cup, we need to develop our players. Invest heavily in player development so that they can compete at the greatest level."

Aside from the World Cup, African players have long been "competing at the highest level" in some of Europe's greatest leagues, consistently ranking among the best players in those clubs, according to Mokoena.

Sadio Mane of Bayern Munich has emerged as one of the world's top forwards, becoming runners-up at the Ballon d'Or honors. After leading the Teranga Lions to Africa Cup of Nations success earlier this year, the 30-year-old former Liverpool star will lead Senegal's attack in Qatar.

The current five spots, according to Moses Magogo, a CAF executive member and president of Uganda's national football federation, are appropriate.

"To be fair," Magogo added, "I think five is appropriate." "Because we all know that European football is held in far higher regard than African football." And we nearly have the same number of countries."

Africa has only made it to the World Cup quarter-finals three times. Cameroon was the first, in 1990, Senegal in 1998, and Ghana in 2010. All five African teams were eliminated in the first round of the 2018 World Cup.

The 2026 World Cup will be enlarged to 48 teams, ensuring Africa at least four additional spots, but Mboma remains sceptical.

"It will bring more spots to Europe," he said. "A third of the squads will represent European countries, so the situation remains unequal and unfair."

"We understand that having more European countries than African or Asian ones makes it simpler to sell the tournament." However, it will not increase the chances of non-European or South American nations winning the tournament."

In Qatar, Cameroon, coached by Rigobert Song, is one of Africa's best hopes. Senegal, Ghana, Morocco, and Tunisia are among the West African teams that have qualified. Egypt and Nigeria are the only teams missing from the 2018 edition, with Cameroon and Ghana taking their place.