10 African-origin players who represent European countries
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Europe players with African descent? Footballer players are sometimes accused of making career decisions with the sole intention of boosting their bank accounts.
There is a considerable amount of money flowing in the Chinese Super League, which has attracted many players from prestigious teams in Europe. The decision with respect to international representation is a little different though.
There are a number of players with African heritage who can choose which country they want to represent. Some have already retired from professional football, whilst some have stopped playing for their countries, so we might as well focus on the ones that are still here and still feature at the national scene.
10 Europe players with African descent
Here’s a list of 10 African-born players who represent European countries. These are Europe players with African descent.
1. Paul Pogba
- Snubbed: Guinea
- Represents: France
Due to his parent being both Guinean, Paul Pogba was eligible to play for the Guinea national team. His older brother, 29-year-old Florentin Pogba chose to represent Guniea, with Paul opting for France instead.
2. Jerome Boateng
- Snubbed: Ghana
- Represents: Germany
Just like Paul Pogba’s family, the Boateng’s family has also decided to play for different sides. Kevin-Prince Boateng chose to respect his origins and features for the Ghana national team, while Jerome has been a long time Germany international.
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3. N’Golo Kante
- Snubbed: Mali
- Represents: France
African-born players and players with African origins often choose to represent any African national team due to the stiff competition for their role. But, not N’Golo Kante. He decided to try to fight for his place in the France national team, and not only was it a success, but thanks to that decision, Kante is now a 2018 World Champion.
4. Luis Nani
- Snubbed: Cape Verde
- Represents: Portugal
Luís Nani came to Manchester United with a slick haircut, flashy boots and even flashier tricks, hoping to be the long-term replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo. He showed some moments of incredible play and won a number of trophies before moving to lower tiers. He has amassed almost 100 caps for his national team and when he scores, you know he is going to celebrate like he did it for the first time.
5. Romelu Lukaku
- Snubbed: DR Congo
- Represents: Belgium
Although Lukaku is a Belgian citizen by birth, he is more often seen as a Congolese, mainly because his father is an immigrant from Congo, a former Belgian colony. Lukaku’s father, who himself was also a professional soccer player and was capped for Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo, left his country for the neighboring Côte d’Ivoire and then Belgium in 1990, when the Central African state was in political turmoil.
It was against this backdrop that Lukaku’s father decided to flee the country and seek refuge in Belgium, where he made his living and raised his children by playing in lower league teams. Lukaku’s father chose to settle in Belgium because Congo used to be a Belgian colony, and during the colonial era, many Congolese migrated to the country to seek a better life. As a result, both his sons, Jordan and Romelu have decided to feature for Belgium.
6. Mario Balotelli
- Snubbed: Ghana
- Represents: Italy
Balotelli was born to two Ghanaian immigrants in Italy and was adopted by Italian parents. He had the chance to play for either the Black Stars of Ghana or the Azurri of Italy, but he chose the European nation over the Africans, even though they did not show him any loyalty by giving him their passport only when he turned 18.
He started his Italy career when he made a two-goal blast against Germany in the semi-final of Euro 2012, establishing himself as one of the key players the Europeans could rely on in future. Balotelli is the dark-skinned player to represent Italy at a major international tournament.
7. Kylian Mbappe
- Snubbed: Cameroon
- Represents: France
The 20-year-old Paris Saint-Germain wonder kid’s father is Cameroonian and his mother is French.
His performances in 2017 attracted the attention of the Cameroon Football Federation who saw him as a future Lion and opted for him to play in 2017 AFCON, but French coach Didier Deschamps also had keen eyes for the kid which quickly embarked the young Cameroonian in the adventure of the Blues.
Despite Mbappe being called out couple of times for choosing to play for France instead of the country of his father’s origin, he didn’t make a mistake at all – with Cameroon he wouldn’t have added the World Cup trophy to his name.
8. Dele Alli
- Snubbed: Nigeria
- Represents: England
His full name is Bamidele Jermaine Alli. He was born in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England to a Yoruba Nigerian father Kehinde Alli and English mother Denise Alli.
In the summer of 2016, Dele elected to stop wearing the name “Alli” on his match shirts because he felt no connection with the Alli family name (father’s name), instead opting for “Dele”. He chose to play for England over Nigeria and he proved to be essential for the Three Lions.
9. Nabil Fekir
- Snubbed: Algeria
- Represents: France
Fekir made up his mind to play for France at senior level in 2015 when he was named in his ancestral Algeria’s squad for friendlies against Oman and Qatar in March 2015 but withdrew to take part in the French squad for friendlies against Brazil and Denmark.
Fekir became the seventh player with Algerian citizenship to play for the Les Blues, when making his debut against Brazil in 2018 joining Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Zinedine Zidane among others. He was also included in the squad that won the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
10. Sami Khedira
- Snubbed: Tunisia
- Represents: Germany
The Juventus midfielder holds both a Tunisian and a German passport. His father is a Tunisian while the mother is a German.
Unlike the others included in the list, with Tunisia he would have had the chance to play at World Cup, but instead Khedira chose Germany. He was also part of the Germany squad that won the World Cup in Brazil 2014.