Stephen Appiah has brushed off suggestions that African football is in decline and remains confident the continent can have an impact in the World Cup.

Of the five African countries to have qualified for the finals in Germany, only Tunisia have so far avoided defeat after a 2-2 draw with Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.

Angola and Togo lost narrowly to Portugal and South Korea respectively, while Ivory Coast were unfortunate not to draw with Argentina.

Ghana, captained by Appiah, suffered the heaviest defeat of the African competitors after losing 2-0 to Italy in their first ever finals game.

But the midfielder has rejected talk that African football has taken a backwards step in Germany and is not getting too downbeat about results thus far.

"We are all sad about the results of the African teams, but it would be unfair to say football in the continent is going backwards," said Appiah.

"Okay, we have lost the first game, but a lot of teams have done that. It doesn't mean we still cannot go a long way in the competition.

"We will not give up. We will fight right until the very end because we need to keep African football at the forefront of everyone's mind."