They could be joined by Cote d'Ivoire on Friday, but that seems unlikely with The Elephants needing to fashion a nine-goal swing with Portugal in their final match against North Korea. The Portuguese play old foes Brazil.
So it will likely be the Black Stars of Ghana who carry Africa's flag into the Last 16 and I am delighted for them. Ghana is one of my favourite countries in Africa. I have had the privilege of visiting the country a number of times, and enjoyed its warm and friendly people, relaxed attitude to life and a fine work ethic.
This is also something of a golden time in Ghanaian football. They are the Under-20 world champions after their victory in the global tournament on that age-group in Egypt last year, while more and more of their players are excelling in the 'big leagues' of Europe, England, Spain, Italy and Germany.
They play a nice brand of football too, and with a bit more luck and some better finishing, might have beaten Germany on Wednesday night.
Still, their next assignment in the second round, against the USA in Rustenburg on Saturday, is definitely winnable, and they may be able to emulate Cameroon and Senegal as the only African sides to have reached a World Cup quarterfinal.
Meanwhile, the Port Elizabeth pitch must be a real worry for the LOC and FIFA. The surface at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium looks dodgy already and they still have three matches to play on it!
PE has been incredibly lucky to get eight matches in this tournament in my opinion, including the third/fourth play-off. It is awkward to get to, the stadium holds just under 50 000, and good accommodation is not that easy to come by.
I have my suspicions about the reason of course, the fact that a certain D Jordaan was born, raised, and still lives in the city, must surely have been beneficial for it when it came to allotting matches for the tournament.
There is a need to spread the joy around the country, and with Johannesburg hosting the final, and Durban and Cape Town semi-finals, perhaps a fourth city was the correct choice for the third-fourth play-off.
But PE makes it logistically a nightmare for fans, and perhaps Bloemfontein, accessible by road from Gauteng, would have been the more sensible choice.
Image sourced from www.fifa.com
