Imagine Leroy Sane and Dembele partnering Sadio Mane, and Mbappe leading Cameroon’s attack against Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland.
Africa will be well represented when the FIFA World Cup takes centre stage in Qatar later this weekend.
While players called up by the five African teams – Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon and Ghana – make up a good fraction of the total participating players at the tournament, another fraction are the players who could have played for these African countries in Qatar, due to their bloodlines.
Imagining the 2022 FIFA World Cup in an alternate reality, this article highlights the European players of African descent, playing at the World Cup but with their home countries.
Cody Gakpo (23, forward)
Could have represented: Ghana
Representing: Netherlands
Although born in the Netherlands, Gakpo’s father was Togolese with a bit of Ghanaian ancestry. His mother is Dutch.
Memphis Depay (28, forward)
Could have represented: Ghana
Representing: Netherlands
Memphis was born to a Ghanaian father and a Dutch mother in the Netherlands. He opted to represent his mother’s country in 2013 after playing for the Dutch at the youth level. Sometime in 2012, he dropped his last name to sever ties with his father: as he had remarked earlier, « Do not call me Depay, call me Memphis. »
Jeremie Frimpong (21, defender)
Could have represented: Ghana
Representing: Netherlands
Born in the Netherlands, Frimpong is of Ghanaian descent on his mother’s side. His family moved to England when he was seven years old.
Ethan Ampadu (22, defender)
Could have represented: Ghana
Representing: Wales
The former Chelsea man qualifies for Wales through his Welsh mother. Although Ampadu plays internationally for Wales, he was previously also eligible to represent England, the Republic of Ireland and Ghana.
Matteo Guendouzi (23, midfielder)
Could have represented: Morocco
Representing: France
Guendouzi has a Moroccan father and a French mother. He represented France at all age-grade levels from the under 18s.
Aurelien Tchouameni (22, midfielder)
Could have represented: Cameroon
Representing: France
The defensive midfielder is of Cameroonian descent.
Kylian Mbappe (23, forward)
Could have represented: Cameroon
Representing: France
France’s most skillful talent was born in Paris to a father who originally hails from Cameroon. Mbappe’s mother is of Algerian Kabyle origin.
Ousmane Dembele (25, forward)
Could have represented: Senegal
Representing: France
Dembele was born in France to a Mauritanian-Senegalese mother and a Malian father.
William Saliba (21, defender)
Could have represented: Cameroon
Representing: France
Arsenal’s French centre-back has ties to Africa through his mother. She is a Cameroonian.
Nico Williams (20, forward)
Could have represented: Ghana
Representing: Spain
Nicholas « Nico » Williams Arthuer will make his World Cup debut by representing Spain despite being born to Ghanaian parents. Williams’ parents had fled to Ghana and then to Spain from the Liberian Civil War. His older brother, Iñaki Williams, will play at the World Cup too, but with Ghana.
Armel Bella-Kotchap (20, defender)
Could have represented: Cameroon
Representing: Germany
The German professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Southampton was born in France and is the son of former Cameroon international Cyrille Florent Bella.
Leroy Sane (26, forward)
Could have represented: Senegal
Representing: Germany
Sane is the son of former German rhythmic gymnast and 1984 Summer Olympics bronze medalist Regina Weber, and former footballer and Senegalese international Souleymane Sane. He was named Leroy in honour of Claude Le Roy, a former head coach of his father.
Youssoufa Moukoko (17, forward)
Could have represented: Cameroon
Representing: Germany
Moukoko grew up with his grandparents in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde before his father, who has lived in Hamburg as a German citizen since the 1990s, brought him to Germany in the summer of 2014.
Amadou Onana (21, midfielder)
Could have represented: Cameroon or Senegal
Representing: Belgium
Onana was born to a Senegalese mother and a Cameroonian father. His parents raised him in Dakar, Senegal, however, neither his parents’ names nor identities are known as the footballer has been particularly selective about the information he reveals about his family on social media.
Lois Openda (22, forward)
Could have represented: Morocco
Representing: Belgium
Openda was born in Belgium and is of Moroccan and Congolese descent.
Jeremy Doku (20, forward)
Could have represented: Ghana
Representing: Belgium
Doku was born in Belgium and is of Ghanaian descent. He represented Belgium from the under-15 to the under-21 level before making his senior debut in 2020.
Breel Embolo (25, forward)
Could have represented: Cameroon
Representing: Switzerland
Embolo was born in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde. Following the separation of his parents at the age of 5, his mother moved to France to attend school. Whilst there she met her future husband, a Swiss national.
Djibril Sow (25, midfielder)
Could have represented: Senegal
Representing: Switzerland
Sow was born in Switzerland and is of Senegalese descent through his father.
Pulse
