FIFA World Cup winner Marcel Desailly believes African football has made significant progress and says the allocation of nine slots for the continent at the expanded 2026 World Cup is both deserved and encouraging.

Speaking to the media during the Coca-Cola FIFA World Cup trophy tour at the Sofitel Hotel in Abidjan, the former France defender reflected on Africa’s growing influence on the global stage, following the increase to 48 teams for the tournament to be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

“It has grown, it has grown quite a lot,” the World Cup winner said when asked whether Africa’s increased representation reflects the continent’s football strength.

“Over the years we are pleased that FIFA has been smart enough to try and give access to the competition to more teams, which now we have this World Cup, 48 teams, and 9 for Africa, which is great, it's just amazing.”

The FIFA legend pointed to the quality of African players now starring at the highest level in Europe as clear evidence of that growth.

“When you look at most of the teams now in Africa, you can see that inside the team there is a lot of first choice players in Europe,” he said. “So the potential is there, the quality is there, the belief is there.”

Desailly, who won the World Cup in 1998, believes Africa is now capable of going deep into the tournament, building on Morocco’s historic run to the semi-finals at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

“So yes, I would say that as Morocco did for reaching the semi-final, Senegal can do the same thing,” the former France international said. “Ivory Coast can also (get there) if they get into the dynamic they had for the African Cup, they hosted and won.”

Despite the progress, the former Chelsea and AC Milan defender was clear that African football still has work to do to reach the next level.

“It comes from a long way,” he said, pointing to structural challenges on the continent.

“We lose a lot of players because our academy are not up to the level. Our league in the various African countries are also not up to the level to be able to maintain the player and grow them up before eventually they go to Europe.”

According to the World Cup winner, many young African players move abroad too early, often before they are fully ready for elite football.

“They go early in Europe and they don't succeed and we lose them,” he said. “So I think there's a big task for president of federations in general to be able to raise and identify these problems.”

Still, the former France star remains optimistic about the future, insisting the raw quality now available across the continent is undeniable.

“But I believe that now there's quality,” he added. “As I said, back in the days, there were not so many first-choice players. When you look at Senegal, when you look at Morocco, when you look at Ivory Coast, wow, it's impressive. So it grows now.”

Desailly also stressed the importance of coaching and football philosophy in helping African players reach their full potential.

“The technicians also who come into the system have to understand the philosophy,” he said. “Put in place this philosophy up to the level of this player and allow them to express themselves and not to restrict them because of the category of the opponent that they might have to play against.”

In his view, progress will come from paying attention to the smallest details.

“So it's a whole lot of little, little, little details that eventually could make the difference,” the FIFA legend concluded.

As Africa prepares to send more teams than ever before to the World Cup, Desailly’s message from Abidjan was clear: the continent has grown, the belief is stronger, and with the right structures in place, even greater milestones are within reach.