All five of the South American representatives in the 2010 World Cup have made it to the second round.  (Add to that the 2 North and Central American representatives–Mexico and the USA, and that makes for a very successful tournament thus far for the Americas). My money is still on either Brazil or Argentina to win the whole thing.

As for Africa–on the field at least–this not our World Cup thus far.

Nigeria did not want to win and made elementary mistakes, South Africa failed to put Mexico away and got found out against Uruguay, Cote d’Ivoire was unlucky (they had to overcome a 9 goal difference to overtake Portugal; something which was North Korea’s fault). As for Cameroon, the less said the better. Algeria, after a sloppy start, played well against England short of scoring a goal but could not score against the USA.

That leaves Ghana, The hope of Africa.

Footnote: One thing I noticed while in South Africa last week, apart from the fickleness of South African fans, were the cold reception for African teams.

I can only speak for Cape Town where I traveled last week to see some first round matches–I scored tickets to 3 matches in the end. But local fans have been more inclined to support “traditional powerhouse” teams  (i.e. European as well as Argentina and Brazil) first.  It may because they were just realistic (hey, I ultimately favor Brazil and Argentina) or it might be a function of television (the English Premier League and European Champions League dominate football broadcasts on local TV) or because the local leagues are badly organized.  No problem with those explanations.

But I think there is another reason.  It is well known that South Africans display high levels of xenophobia against other Africans. In fact, there is a rumor going around again of renewed attacks against African migrants once the World Cup is over.

South Africans are also uncomfortable about their continental identity. I can’t count how many looks I got for variously wearing a Ghana or Cameroon beenie or jacket in a mall or my Algeria scarf to the latter’s game with England.  Oh, and finding paraphernalia of any other African team apart from South Africa proved quite a mission.

EDIT: Oops. Photo Credit: Dundas FC.

— Sean Jacobs

Further Reading

Djinns in Berlin

At the 13th Berlin Biennale, works from Zambia and beyond summon unseen forces to ask whether solidarity can withstand the gaze of surveillance.

Colonize then, deport now

Trump’s deportation regime revives a colonial blueprint first drafted by the American Colonization Society, when Black lives were exiled to Africa to safeguard a white republic.

On Safari

On our annual publishing break, Gaza’s genocide continues to unfold in real time yet slips from public grasp. This is not just a crisis of politics, but of how reality is mediated—and why we must build spaces where meaning can still take root.

The battle over the frame

As Hollywood recycles pro-war propaganda for Gen Z, Youssef Chahine’s ‘Djamila, the Algerian’ reminds us that anti-colonial cinema once turned imperial film language against its makers—and still can.

Fictions of freedom

K. Sello Duiker’s ‘The Quiet Violence of Dreams’ still haunts Cape Town, a city whose beauty masks its brutal exclusions. Two decades later, in the shadow of Amazon’s new development, its truths are more urgent than ever.

When things fall apart

Against a backdrop of global collapse, one exhibition used Chinua Achebe’s classic to hold space for voices from the Global South—and asked who gets to imagine the future.

The General sleeps

As former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari’s death is mourned with official reverence, a generation remembers the eight years that drove them out.

The grift tank

In Washington’s think tank ecosystem, Africa is treated as a low-stakes arena where performance substitutes for knowledge. The result: unqualified actors shaping policy on behalf of militarists, lobbyists, and frauds.