The constant influx of African players from Europe in the past few years is causing more talent and quality players to be featured in the African teams, and many of them will appear at the Africa Cup of Nations that kicked off today in Cameroon.
Over the last 15 editions of the continental tournament, there has been a steady increase in the number of players coming from European clubs to represent African teams.
In the 1992 Nations Cup in Senegal, there were only 3 European-born players out of the 12 teams, with two born in France and playing for Algeria, along with Nigeria international Robin Agbula, who was born in London to a Nigerian father and an English mother.
In the 2021 edition hosted by Cameroon, with the participation of 24 teams, more than 30% of the players were born in Europe, with the number of 199 players, along with a player who was born in Canada.
This number of players was born in different countries, including Denmark, Sweden and Romania, but the largest share was for France, with 122 players, in addition to 21 players in Spain, 16 players in England, and 12 players in the Netherlands.
đŠ The Cameroonian lion wakes up and walks as a king at the opening ceremony #African NationsCup #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 |
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Algeria, the defending champion, counts 11 players from the national team who were born in France.
Among the main advantages of having players abroad from a young age, is training in high-quality stadiums and gaining great experience.
"There are a large number of exceptional talents in Algeria, but they do not receive the same foundational training as those who were born in France," said former Algeria coach Abdelghani Jedaoui. "Locals lack something that we get from those established in football schools in Europe."
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There are 16 players in Equatorial Guinea who were born in Spain, which helped this team to rise above expectations, and succeed in qualifying for the finals of the African Nations Cup.
All Comoros players - except for one - were born in France, and this team would not have had any chance of qualifying for the Nations Cup without relying on the children of immigrants to Marseille and the rest of the French cities.
African countries are always looking for players with family ties, giving them the opportunity to own a passport and play for the national team.
A number of these players have previously represented European teams at the youth and youth level, after the International Federation (FIFA) eased restrictions on changing nationality, and some players will appear in the Nations Cup in Cameroon despite their playing with a European team for adults.
Stephen Coker and Wilfried Zaha played friendly with England, before choosing to play with Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast, respectively. Mounir El Haddadi appeared with Spain but later chose to represent Morocco, while Mikael Derstam chose to represent Guinea despite playing two matches with Sweden in 2012.
There are only 3 teams that do not have any foreign-born players: Egypt, Ethiopia and Malawi.