The coach of Senegal’s national football team, Aliou Cisse has expressed optimism about the chances of an African country winning the  World Cup in the future despite their disappointing start in this year’s tournament.

Cisse, who is the only Black coach at the World Cup in Russia led his side to a 2-1 victory over Poland in Group H on Tuesday thus making Senegal the only African side to win its opening fixture.

“I’m certain that one day an African team, an African country, will win the World Cup. But Africa is full of quality and we’re on the way. We fully trust our football, we have no hang-ups,” Cisse said.

Cisse, who captained the Senegalese team in 2002 to a stunning quarter-final finish, however agrees that after five defeats in the six games featuring African teams, the hunt for glory could take some time.

“It’s a bit more complicated in our countries. We face realities that are not there in other continents,” Cisse added, referring to infrastructure, budget and organizational problems.

Seven time African champions, Egypt have lost two consecutive games, 0-1 to Uruguay, and 1-3 to Russia, results attributed to the limited role of their star player Mohamed Salah, who was injured in May during the Champions League final.

Morocco lost their opening game to Iran, after conceding a stoppage time own goal while fancied Nigeria were beaten 2-0 by Croatia. Tunisia also lost their opening tie to England, falling to a stoppage time Harry Kane header.

While both Egypt and Morocco could be effectively eliminated inside the first week of the tournamemt, the 44-year-old Cisse believes all hope was not lost.