France is already the champion and that’s in the field!
The World Cup hasn’t started yet. The opening bell rings tomorrow. The trophy will be lifted in the final on July 19. So how is France the champion now? The answer is that France has the highest number of players born in the World Cup this time. 99.
This time, there are 1,248 footballers in the 48 teams of the World Cup. If the number of players born in a particular country is about 100, then that country is the champion in this list!
The story behind this lies in the extraordinary strategy of developing players and finding talent in France’s academies. The number of players produced there is so high that it has even transcended geographical boundaries.
As reported by Argentine media outlet El Gráfico, 76 of these 99 players play for other countries. In other words, 76.9 percent of the players will play for France’s rival teams at the World Cup. Interestingly, France coach Didier Deschamps’ 26-man World Cup squad includes 23 players born in France.
Prothom Alo Graphics
The biggest beneficiaries of France’s player-producing potential are Africa and the Caribbean. Algeria tops the list with 13 players born in France, followed by Haiti with 12, DR Congo (11) and Senegal (10).
El Gráfico reported that France’s player export rate is higher than other major teams, leaving football-mad countries like the Netherlands, Germany, or England far behind.Read more
How ready is Argentina to retain the World Cup trophy?
Of the total 1,248 players, 959 will play for their own country. 289 will play for a country outside their homeland. The Netherlands is second only to the French in terms of player production and export. They have a total of 67 players in the tournament. The rest of the top 10 are Germany (50), England (48), Sweden (36), Belgium (36), Spain (35), Austria (32), Argentina (30) and Switzerland (30).
Brazil and the United States are tied for 11th on the list, with 29 players each. Only one player born in Curacao is in the World Cup.
Brazil football teamAFP
There are some countries that have provided players to the World Cup but their own national teams have not been able to make it to the tournament. Denmark, Italy and Sudan are at the top of these teams. Three footballers from each of these three countries will play in the World Cup under the flags of other countries.
Cameroon and Serbia have two players each. The list of countries that have provided a player to the World Cup despite failing to qualify for the national team is quite long—Burkina Faso, Slovenia, Wales, Gambia, Guinea, Ireland, Isle of Man, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia and Tanzania.
