This time for Africa - The greatest African teams in World Cup history

Moroccan fans celebrated on Thursday as their country became the only Arab nation to reach the knockout rounds of the first World Cup held in an Arab country, dancing and cheering in the stadium in Qatar and on the streets back home.

Morocco beat Canada 2-1 to finish top of their group in a stadium thronged with their supporters. In earlier matches they had tied with Croatia and scored a surprise win over Belgium, the second-ranked team in the world.

In Qatar, where the home team along with Saudi Arabia and Tunisia have already been knocked out, Morocco now carries the mantle for an Arab world that has cheered victories by Arab teams against some of the tournament favourites.

Another African nation, Senegal has also qualified for the knockouts and highlights an upturn in the fortunes of African teams.

Here we take a look at some of the best African teams in the World Cups over the years.

Cameroon 1982

Eight years before Cameroon's finest hour at the World Cup, they impressed on their first appearance at the tournament—in 1982.

The Indomitable Lions may have fallen at the first hurdle, but they were eliminated without losing a single match—having lost all three fixtures—including a draw with eventual champions Italy in Vigo.

Nigeria 1994

Nigeria's greatest team won continental gold in the mid-90s, bringing the Afcon title back to Lagos for the first time since their maiden success in 1980.

Triumph over Zambia in the '94 final—with Emmanuel Amuneke putting on a masterclass to net twice—was followed up by a run to the knockout stages of the World Cup later that year, and then Olympic gold in 1996.

Ghana 2010

Milovan Rajevac's talented side became only the third African team to reach the quarter-finals at the grandest stage of all.

Amidst the notoriety of the latter stages of the Stars' campaign, their opening 1-0 victory over an excellent Serbia team and subsequent 1-1 draw with Australia in Rusenburg have largely been overlooked, with Gyan the goalscorer on both of those occasions.

In the Last 16, again, Baby Jet stole the show, netting a 93rd-miute extra-time winner against the United States to set up that infamous quarter-final against Uruguay.

Cameroon 1990

The first African team to reach the quarter-finals, Cameroon's side in 1990 may have contained some prominent amateur players, but there was no shortage of talent as they stunned reigning champions Argentina in their opening match.

Francois Omam-Biyik's leap and header was enough to stun the Albiceleste in an infamously ill-tempered clash in which two Cameroonians were sent off.

Roger Milla, who would make history four years later as the World Cup's oldest scorer, was the hero against Colombia in the Round of 16.

Senegal 2002

Senegal, like Cameroon, defeated the reigning champions in their opening match—stunning France 1-0 thanks to Papa Bouba Diop's goal.

They also emulated the Indomitable Lions by reaching the quarter-finals, with the likes of Salif Diao, El-Hadji Diouf and current coach Aliou Cisse starring in Bruno Metsu's side.