Five nations went through the qualification process and hosts South Africa were given an automatic berth for the first finals on African soil.
The emergence of top-class players such as Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto'o and Michael Essien has led to the continent's increased sense of expectation.
Algeria and South Africa have been to two previous World Cups but the region's best hopes could rest with Ghana and Ivory Coast, who both participate for only the second time.
Only one of the five African teams present made it beyond the group stages in Germany in 2006 and Ghana were immediately dispatched by Brazil in the first knockout round.
JUNIOR SUCCESS
"I think this World Cup is really going to be a very important one for African football and its credibility in world football after you consider the success at junior level," said Sudan's English-born coach Stephen Constantine.
Ghana won this year's under-20 World Cup in Egypt and their senior side could be title outsiders in South Africa.
African teams are playing more frequently against the world's best countries and Germany needed a stoppage-time equaliser last week to deny Ivory Coast victory in a friendly in Gelsenkirchen.
"We are hoping Africa will provide a winner but we already feel the continent has won by staging its first ever World Cup," said the organising committee's chief executive officer Danny Jordaan.
