As Ayyoub Bouaddi step for Boston pitch for World Cup quarter-final on Thursday, e go wear Morocco shirt. Just 101 days before, e dey wear France kit as e captain under-21 side to beat Iceland 2-1 for European Championship qualifier.
Bouaddi don dey wanted by Morocco, and before that game e talk say e need time to tink about im international future. “I no want rush things,” the Lille midfielder add. Six weeks later, e don land for Morocco squad for World Cup.
“A big loss,” na how Hubert Fournier, technical director of French national team, describe am. “A lost treasure,” L’Équipe tok. “E be very good player,” Guy Stéphan, France assistant manager, yarn this week. “E make choice. We no go criticize am for dat, quite the opposite. E choose different sporting nationality.”
Bouaddi no be isolated case. 99 players for World Cup this summer dem born for France — 32 more than next most represented nation, Netherlands. Just seven of Morocco squad dem born for di kontri. Three dem born for Netherlands, wey dem beat for penalties for last 32. Six dem born for France, dia next opponents.
After Morocco beat Oranje for penalties, dia midfielder Azzedine Ounahi joke say “providers” don win. France, and especially wider Paris region, Île-de-France, na di biggest “providers” for dis World Cup. Of di 99 players born for France, 52 come from dis region; just 12 play for France national team.
Eight players from Île-de-France region dey for World Cup for Russia for 2018, and 12 for Qatar four years ago. Clear upward trend dey. São Paulo once be world centre of player development, but no be again. Scouts don long take note, and e be hotbed wey dem dey exploit.
Having largely ignore di rich talent pool for dia doorstep, Paris Saint-Germain don shift dia strategy for recent seasons to provide pathway for academy players to break into first team — as Warren Zaïre-Emery and Senny Mayulu don do recently. Intense level of competition dey drive increasing standards. With football seen as means to social mobility, unrelenting intensity dey, even for amateur level.
For club level, e dey create surplus of talent. “Too many talents for clubs to use and make most of,” one scout tell us. Consequently, foreign clubs dey increasingly dial into Parisian scene, and France more generally. E be situation mirrored for international level, where surplus wey dem create na France gift to di world.
Morocco certainly be beneficiary of talent wey dem nurture for France. No ill feeling dey towards Bouaddi, despite attempts of French football federation — and reportedly Zinédine Zidane — to convince am to play in bleu. Bouaddi no be di only player wey fit line up against di kontri of im birth for quarter-final.
Neil El Aynaoui, born for Nancy, go partner am for midfield. Samir El Mourabet, born for Strasbourg and now dey play for im home town club, na another contender to start for midfield; Issa Diop, wey represent France up to U21 level, go probably start for defence. Gessime Yassine, born near Marseille, and Redouane Halhal, born for Montpellier, also dey part of Mohamed Ouahbi squad.
Dem be part of distinctly multicultural Morocco squad, wey get 19 players born abroad — from France, Netherlands, Spain, Canada and Belgium. Morocco be extreme example, but 23% of players for tournament no dey represent di kontri of dia birth.
Morocco get strong arguments to attract talent, beyond matters of heart. Having reach semi-finals of World Cup for 2022 and construct Mohammed VI Academy — national training centre wey rival installations of most elite European nations — ambition and vision dey.
France colonial history for north Africa mean significant Maghrebin diaspora dey for di kontri. More than a tenth of France population dem born elsewhere; nearly half of dem dem born for Africa. Dis diversity be France strength when dem win World Cup for 1998, encapsulated for “Black, Blanc, Beur” slogan. Diversity continue to be France strength, despite attacks on am.
For 2024, Enzo Fernández apologise after im and other Argentina players dem film dey sing chant wey include phrase “Dem play for France, but all come from Angola,” from inside team bus. After France beat Paraguay for last-32 stage, Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla describe Kylian Mbappé as “colonised Cameroonian, desperately trying to pass himself off as French.”
FFF don denounce di “utterly abhorrent and unacceptable” comments, as UN Human Rights office do, Paraguayan government don distance itself from remarks, and French prosecutors don launch investigation. Comments be more than just backdrop as France prepare to face Morocco. Politics and sport don intertwine throughout tournament: from treatment of Iran delegation, decision to bar Somali referee Omar Artan from entering US, and Donald Trump intervention for Folarin Balogun suspension. Mbappé don dey centre of political storm after im criticism and concern about rise of far right for France draw criticism from Michel Platini before tournament.
“France national team dey representative of French population,” Deschamps tok for May for response. “Diversity be France strength and other countries, including Morocco, now dey benefit from am too.”
