Any doubts about a World Cup played in the winter and in the middle of the club football season being a spectacle, have surely been put to bed in Qatar.
The 2022 World Cup has offered nothing but thrill, shock, excitement and all-around action. African countries at the Mundial started on a poor note with all five representatives in Senegal, Tunisia, Morocco, Cameroon and Ghana failing to win, neither did they find the back of the net except the Black Stars in their 3-2 defeat by Portugal.
The Teranga Lions finally gave the continent its first win in Qatar, defeating the tournament hosts 3-1. That, at least, sent a signal that life can actually continue on the pitch without talisman Sadio Mane.
Morocco also saw off world number two Belgium 2-0 on Sunday afternoon.
Away from the African sides at the World Cup, a couple of players have lit up the tournament and happen to be of African descent. Bukayo Saka – who was born to Nigerian parents – netted a brace in England’s opening 6-2 win over Iran in Group B.
In the same group, Timothy Weah, son of Liberian president and former Ballon d’Or winner George Weah, scored in the United States 1-1 with Wales. Yunus Musah, a 19-year-old born to Ghanaian parents has featured in the USA’s two matches so far, completing 90 minutes against England on Friday.
Cody Gakpo, of Togolese and Ghanaian descent, scored in the Netherlands 2-0 win over Senegal. He scored his second goal of the World Cup in their next group match against Ecuador which ended 1-1. Breel Embolo – who was born in Cameroon and grew up in France and Switzerland – scored for the Swiss when they took on the country of his birth. He refused to celebrate his goal out of respect.
Rafael Leao – who is hot property for AC Milan – scored off the bench in Portugal’s victory against Ghana. He was born to Angolan parents in the Portuguese city of Almada and began his career at Sporting CP before joining Lille in France and finally AC Milan in 2019, winning the Serie A in 2021-22. Alphonso Davies – who is the child of Liberian parents who fled the country due to war and was born in a Ghanaian refugee camp – scored Canada’s first-ever World Cup goal and the fastest so far in Qatar. It however ended in a 4-1 defeat to Croatia on Sunday.
While these aforementioned players are still prospects, it’s worth noting that there are well-established players of African descent at this World Cup as well. Antonio Rudiger is of Sierra Leone descent and plays for Germany. Manuel Akanji – who was born to a Nigerian father – is a mainstay in the Switzerland national team. Ousmane Dembele – who plays for the French national team has parents that hail from Mali, Mauritania and Senegal.
And not forgetting the mercurial Kylian Mbappe who has lit up this World Cup with three goals in two games which secured two wins for France and a berth in the Round of 16, the first team in Qatar to do so. Mbappe is of Cameroonian descent via his father, and is already a world champion following his exploits with Les Bleus in Russia four years ago at the age of 18. He has since continued to show his immense talent at club level with Paris Saint-Germain
There are just so many players of African descent at this World Cup that will take up a lot of space to mention. Asides countries mentioned already, there are also players that represent Belgium, Qatar, Wales and Denmark.
Players of African descent have always been at the World Cup. One just needs to look at the 1998 World Cup French-winning squad that had three players of African descent (Patrick Vieira – Senegal, Marcel Desailly – Ghana and Zinedine Zidane – Algeria). The number rose astronomically to 14 players in the squad that won it again 20 years later.
France is the prime example of a team filled with players of African descent that excel. The numbers also keep growing in countries like England, the United States, Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands and elsewhere. What this means is as the years go by, Africa will continue to lose a lot its talent. The continent has struggled to make a consistent impression at the World Cup with only three quarter-final appearances by Cameroon (1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010) as the best Africa has shown since its debut in competition in 1974.
48 years on, Africa should be up there challenging with the best of Europe and South America, North America and elsewhere. However, more players are choosing to represent these countries and the reason isn’t far fetched.
The African continent ranks low when it comes to human development index with only Mauritius ranking very high, while seven countries rank high. The rest of the countries are medium and more than half of the continent rank low. This is why many of its people seek a better life outside its shores. It has been happening since the independence wave started in the 1960s. The result is that families settled overseas, either gave birth or raised their children there and they became part of a society that was more progressive.
Of course, there are some players born and raised abroad that played for African countries. A good number represent the Senegal national team like Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly, Youssouf Sabaly, Abdou Diallo and Nampalys Mendy, all born in France. Inaki Williams who was born in Spain plays for Ghana, Eric Choupo-Moting, born in Germany, plays for Cameroon. Nigeria has a host of abroad-born or raised players in its ranks like William Troost-Ekong, Leon Balogun, Maduka Okoye, Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi and others.
As much as Africa craves to have its best talent, one needs to ask, would Mbappe for instance, be arguably the best player in the world at the moment had he played for Cameroon? Or would Romelu Lukaku be very prolific if he played for DR Congo? Would Alphonso Davies be as recognised as he is now if he decided to play for Liberia and not Canada? Would Saka be this good if he chose to play for Nigeria? There are no guarantees these would happen because football growth and development is very problematic in this part of the world. The right infrastructure is lacking for football in Africa, many talents not harnessing with the right education. African countries are rife with poverty, corruption, bad governance, malnutrition, famine, poor healthcare, poor infrastructure, insecurity challenges among a host of others.
It’s clear why these players will choose to represent foreign countries. African countries are just riddled with too many problems as discussed above that spill into football. Until the quality of life and overall standard of living becomes better, with proper infrastructure development a very deliberate agenda, Africa will continue to lose more of its own.
The popular slang in Nigeria currently known as ‘japa’ which means to flee or run, is an indication that there’s going to be more emigration out of Nigeria in the coming years as the country struggles economically and with uncertainty around the direction the country will go after next year’s elections. What this means is more players of Nigerian descent will feature for the countries earlier mentioned.
It is speculated for instance, the next 20 years could see the Canadian national team dominated by Nigerians. They already have Sam Adekugbe and Ike Ugbo while Ayo Akinola, Tesho Akindele have been capped, with Luca Koleosho called up during the summer. Elijah Adekugbe, Kunle Dada-Luke, Oluwaseun Oyegunle, Malik Owolabi-Belewu, could all be in team if their career progresses well.
Africa, in the end, will find itself chasing more shadows and will be unable to compete with the best of the world despite its obvious talent. That should be very worrying if those in position of authority care to do something about the serious consequences of this malaise.
