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A number of African countries have to ask themselves "what could have been?" They were able to align several of the players who played the leading role for France champion and third Belgium at 2018. The best talents for Belgium are Romelu Lukaku (parents of the Democratic Republic of Congo), Mousa Dembélé (father of Mali) and Marouane Fellaini (parents of Morocco). The French team included stars like Paul Pogba (parents of Guinea), N & # 39; Golo Kanté (parents of Mali), Kylian Mbappé (Algerian mother and Cameroonian father), Blaise Matuidi (parents of Angola) and Samuel Umtiti (born in Cameroon)
All were eligible to play in the country of their ancestry. This has never happened. They chose to play for France and Belgium instead.
France had up to 15 players with African roots in its team of 23. Belgium had nine out of 23. Even England, also in the top four of the 2018 competition, had Players of African lineage including Dele Alli (Nigeria) and Danny Welbeck (Ghana)
Last year, six eligible players for Nigeria were among the 21 English players who won the Under-20 World Cup of FIFA.
Africa's missing history on players dates back more than half a century. Eighty years ago, Raoul Diagne, a Senegalese, played the role of defender of France at the World Cup in 1938. He won 18 selections for France and after the independence of Senegal became his first coach. In 1963, he led the West African team to his first win against France and became a national hero.
Over the decades, other players with African connections have made their mark at the World Cup. Among them were super stars like Just Fontaine (Morocco) who represented France in 1958, the Mozambican Eusebio da Silva Ferreira who represented Portugal at the World Cup in 1966 and Zinedine Zidane, of Algerian descent, who played an important role in the French team. in 1998. There were others too.
Can African countries break the cycle and improve their chances of accomplishing much more at a World Cup? The change is already underway. But a lot remains to be done. The biggest challenge is that administrators and managers are not trying to find out why African players have chosen other countries over their home country. Until this gap is filled, it will be impossible to reverse the trend
Emigrant gamblers ignored
Until a few decades ago – before the emigration of African players to professional careers outside the continent – ignored African countries and second-generation emigrants. Instead, they chose only players for their national teams who did not have multiple eligibility.
But things have changed and countries have started actively seeking first (African emigrants) and second (children of African emigrants). Recruitment still needs to focus on third-generation players, who are also eligible, including the likes of Englishman Ross Barkley who has a Nigerian grandfather. It could happen years later.
The recruitment of eligible players to play in several countries has begun in earnest. Morocco, for example, had 17 players at its recent World Cup born abroad. Nigeria had six that could have played for several European countries, while 25 players born in France were at the World Cup in the uniforms of Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia.
The race to seduce and disembark these players
Coaches in charge of African national teams – especially European – prefer to recruit second generation talents from overseas.
It is difficult to say what the impact of these players was because they did not move the needle in terms of World Cup performance. One reason for this may be that African countries have not been able to recruit the first line of second generation emigrants. Instead, they were left to players who were not heavily solicited by European countries.
In many cases, players ignored by European countries took years to decide to represent an African country. Take Steven Nzonzi who played for France in Moscow. He was eligible to play for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) because his father is Congolese. But he repeatedly refused orders to play for the country. Instead, he held out until he got his first cap in France last year at the age of 28. This decision made him very unpopular in the DRC.
There is a reason why players do not choose countries yet. It is time that the best administrators of Africa try to find out so that they can work to rectify the situation. Success in recruiting such talent will be a much faster way to win the World Cup.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. 
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