There are very valid reasons to justify Uganda Cranes’ recent struggles in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers. Having to play home matches in countries that don’t share borders with Uganda has obviously been a significant disadvantage for the senior national soccer team.
In fact, it is not wrong to say that the Uganda Cranes would probably have been home and dry had the games against Tanzania and Algeria been hosted at Mandela National stadium Namboole in the AFCON qualifiers.
The Cranes lost 0-1 to Tanzania and 1-2 to Algeria in the games hosted in Egypt and Cameroon respectively.
Coach Micho Sredojevic has already highlighted his hope and expectation that Uganda Cranes’ home World Cup qualifiers will be played at Namboole.
That said, qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup remains a long shot. In the recent draws for the qualifiers, the Uganda Cranes were pooled with Algeria’s Desert Warriors, who are the top seeds in Group G.
The Desert Warriors are still nursing wounds from their agonizing miss to reach the 2022 World Cup in Qatar where they were denied by a last-minute goal against Cameroon.
The Riyad Mahrez-inspired team will be the obvious favorites to top the group that also features a Guinea team that is a grade or two above Uganda technically.
The other teams in Group G are Somalia, Mozambique and Botswana.
For all intents and purposes, Uganda Cranes today remain a team in transition. Local football governing body, FUFA, has conceded that the growth spurt in the team has taken longer than expected yet the development of footballers can’t be rushed.
Three years ago, FUFA’s mission was to compete at the 2026 FIFA World Cup but that will not happen in all probability. If it did, it would be a biblical miracle of our lifetime.
Yet Micho is looking ahead to the qualifiers with keen interest and excitement for he knows that stranger things have happened in sport before.
The Uganda Cranes have never reached the FIFA World Cup but the team came close in the 2018 World Cup campaign before Micho’s shock resignation over unpaid wages put paid to the country’s chances.
He would be the happiest in the world to rectify that record.