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African Country Bigger Than UK Banned From Competing at World Cup

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England has already qualified for next summer’s World Cup.

An African country larger than the United Kingdom has been barred from competing in the World Cup.



The event next summer will feature 48 countries and will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.


So far, 28 teams have qualified, with England being the only European country to have guaranteed their spot.

Other home nations, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, still have a chance to qualify, although they will most likely have to go via the play-offs.

In Africa, Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia have all qualified automatically.

Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Nigeria will compete in two semi-finals and a final next month for the continent’s final position.

However, Western Sahara is one African area that will not be represented at the World Cup.

The region is classified as a non-self-governing territory by the United Nations, which means “whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government.”

It has been described as Africa’s last colony, with Spain dominating it until 1976, when it attempted to hand over control to Morocco and Mauritania.

Morocco occupies around 70% of the territory, while the Polisario Front, a nationalist movement seeking independence from Morocco, controls the other 30%.

Western Sahara spans a large portion of North-West Africa, with a total size of 272,000 km2, equivalent to the UK’s 244,376 km2.

However, it is far more thinly populated, with a population of around 560,000, compared to the UK, which has an estimated 69 million inhabitants.

Western Sahara has its own football squad, managed by the Sahrawi Football Federation.

However, because they are not members of CAF or FIFA, the team is unable to compete in World Cup qualifying or the actual tournament.

Western Sahara is a member of the World Unity Football Allegiance, an international organisation that represents football teams that are not connected with FIFA.

WUFA currently has only 19 members, which include the Chagos Islands, Yorkshire, and Kashmir.

The long-running territorial dispute over Western Sahara has reached the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

In February, Cas upheld the Algerian Football Federation’s appeal after Moroccan club RS Berkane was allowed to wear a shirt featuring an expanded map of the country.

The Confederation of African Football authorised the design, despite the fact that the map included the disputed territory of Western Sahara.

It sparked a fight, which resulted in both games between RS Berkane and Algeria’s USM Alger being called off.

 




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