Which African country was the first to reach a World Cup quarter-final?

The 1990 World Cup in Italy opened with a match almost nobody expected to be remembered. The defending champions, Argentina, with Diego Maradona in their side, faced Cameroon in the very first game of the tournament in Milan. Argentina were heavily favoured. Cameroon, written off by most outsiders, played hard, physical football, lost two players to red cards, and somehow won 1–0. The result, finished by a Cameroonian goal from a header, was instantly one of the great upsets in football history — and it set the tone for everything that followed.

The face of that Cameroon team became Roger Milla, a striker brought back from semi-retirement for the tournament. At 38 years old, he came off the bench again and again, scored late, dramatic goals, and celebrated each one with a now-famous dance at the corner flag. His goals helped Cameroon top their group, and his presence turned an underdog story into a global one. To millions of viewers, he became the face of African football breaking through onto the biggest stage.

Cameroon's run did not stop at the group stage. In the round of 16, they beat Colombia 2–1 after extra time, with both Cameroonian goals scored by Milla. That win sent them into the quarter-finals — the first time any African nation had reached that stage of the World Cup. There they faced England in Naples and pushed the eventual semi-finalists to extra time, leading 2–1 at one point before losing 3–2. They were out, but not before becoming the first African quarter-finalists in tournament history.

Cameroon's 1990 run changed expectations for African teams at the World Cup, and it helped persuade FIFA to expand Africa's allocation of qualifying places. The next African quarter-finalist did not arrive until 2002, when Senegal matched the feat, again with an opening-match upset (this time over France). Ghana followed in 2010, coming agonisingly close to becoming the first African semi-finalist. Cameroon's place in history — the first ever to make the quarter-finals — has not been taken since, but the door they opened that year has stayed open.

For Italians, Argentines, English fans, and football watchers in dozens of other countries, the 1990 tournament has many memories. But the one that runs through nearly all of them is a small, fast-running African side that no one had picked out before the first match — and the older striker dancing at the corner flag.

This article was written using information from Wikipedia.