African nations at the FIFA World Cup by Asamoah Gyan. Had Ghana won their quarter final they would have become the very first African nation to progress to the semifinals of the world cup. Of the 32 countries that participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, FIFA ranked Ghana 7th. The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil marked the first time more than one African team went beyond the group stages. While Ghana and Cameroon both collected disappointing results (apart from Ghana's 2–2 draw with later champions Germany, which saw them becoming the only team not to lose against the Germans in the entire tournament) and eventually
History of the FIFA World Cup instituted a policy to award three points for a win in the 1994 World Cup. Although goals for was already a tiebreaker, FIFA hoped to create an additional incentive for teams to pursue victory. The first team affected by the rule was Paraguay in 1998, which would have won its group on goal differential over Nigeria under prior FIFA rules. Paraguay advanced to the knockout phase as group runner-up and was defeated by host nation and eventual champion France in the round of 16. It is not possible under the new point system to be eliminated from the group stage