Sebastien Desabre: Pitches and stadiums must improve for Africa to win the World Cup

Standards of football pitches and stadiums in Africa must improve for a side from the continent to win the Fifa World Cup, according to Democratic Republic of Congo coach Sebastien Desabre.

His comments come as Ghana became the latest country to be banned from hosting international matches, external by the Confederation of African Football (Caf).

Desabre, who took DR Congo to the semi-finals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) this year, says whilst the standard of play may be improving, the infrastructure is not there to back the coaches.

“Unfortunately some pitches, some structures, are not at the level of the objective of the [Caf] president or the objective of federations,” Desabre told Newsday on BBC World Service.

“It’s why it’s more difficult in Africa to get results.”

Benin, Kenya and Madagascar were among several nations forced to host 2025 Afcon qualifiers this month at neutral venues after failing to meet Caf’s requirements for international matches.

Ghana look set to join that contingent next month because of technical infractions at the Baba Yara Stadium, including concerns over the quality of the pitch in Kumasi.

Ghana’s ministry of youth and sports has asked Caf to inspect two other stadiums in Accra instead, but if neither of those are are approved then the Black Stars will have to hold next month’s tie against Sudan outside of the country.

Morocco reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, becoming the first African side to progress to the last four, but Desabre thinks infrastructure must be improved for anyone to go further.

“The standard of the professional game is improving,” the 48-year-old told the BBC.

“From more than 10 years in Africa, I saw changes in Caf, in federations, in academies.

“I know, one time surely, an African team will win the World Cup because either way it’s destined for African football.

“But we need to continue to build stadiums and training pitches to help the coaches and players [put on] a good spectacle and [get] good results.”

Desabre is among a number of national coaches who have assembled in Ivory Coast for a two-day coaches’ symposium organised by Caf.

The objective is to reflect on this year’s Nations Cup finals in the West African country and to look at how future tournaments can be improved.