Revealed: France's uncanny connection with African teams at FIFA World Cup 2022

A lot of these players could have represented other countries as well.

This time, five African nations will compete in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Fans will wish that one of them advances further in the competition. Ghana, Tunisia, Senegal, Cameroon, and Morocco will be looking to make Africa proud following Nigeria's failure to qualify for the first time after appearing in back-to-back World Cups in 2014 and 2018.

African nations have traditionally fallen short in the World Cup due to a lack of star quality. Many renowned players have also migrated to other countries as immigrants, often leaving these nations short of star quality.

The last time an African nation advanced deep into the tournament was in 2010 when Ghana made it to the quarter-finals. They were eventually knocked out by Uruguay on penalties in a dramatic clash. In 2002, Senegal also advance to the last eight stages. Through the course of their historic run, the Lions of Teranga shocked the then-defending champions France in the tournament opener. Since then, they have only managed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Their third World Cup appearance will be this time in Qatar. In addition to Senegal, Tunisia, Ghana, Morocco, and Cameroon can cause substantial trouble.

Indeed, African countries have been overlooked in important events. However, this World Cup will be different, as all five nations will be prepared to demonstrate their value.

There are also signs that show that perhaps things are slowly taking a turn for the good for African countries. While previously, talents from African nations would usually migrate to other developed countries and then go on to represent those countries, there is a slight turn in events now.

Interestingly, of the 130 players that will represent the five African nations at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 55 were not even born in those countries. In a shocking u-turn, 34 of these players were actually born in France, which has otherwise been a hotbed for migrating African talents. Five of those players were born in Belgium, two each in England and Germany.

Here is a detailed list of players from the five African countries not born in the African continent:

Cameroon

Devis Epassy (France), Jean-Charles Castelletto (France), Enzo Ebosse (France), Christopher Wooh (France), Olivier Ntcham (France), Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (Germany), Karl Toko Ekambi (France), Bryan Mbeumo (France) and Georges-Kevin Nkoudou (France).

Ghana

Alexander Djiku (France), Denis Odoi (Belgium), Tariq Lamptey (England), Andre Ayew (France), Elisha Owusu (France), Jordan Ayew (France), Inaki Williams (Spain) and Antoine Semenyo (England).

Morocco

Yassine Bounou (Canada), Munir Mohamedi (Spain), Romain Saiss (France), Achraf Hakimi (Spain), Noussair Mazraoui (Netherlands), Sofyan Amrabat (Netherlands), Selim Amallah (Belgium), Amine Harit (France), Ilias Chair (Belgium), Bilal El Khannous (Belgium), Hakim Ziyech (Netherlands), Sofiane Boufal (France), Zakaria Aboukhlal (Netherlands) and Walid Cheddira (Italy).

Senegal

Edouard Mendy (France), Seny Dieng (Switzerland), Kalidou Koulibaly (France), Youssouf Sabaly (France), Abdou Diallo (France), Fode Ballo-Toure (France), Ismail Jakobs (Germany), Nampalys Mendy (France), Pape Gueye (France), Boulaye Dia (France), Iliman N'Diaye (France) and Nicolas Jackson (Gamibia).

Tunisia

Mouez Hassen (France), Montassar Talbi (France), Nader Ghandri (France), Dylan Bronn (France), Mohamed Drager (Belgium), Wajdi Kechrida (France), Hannibal Mejbri (France), Aissa Laidouni (France), Ellyes Skhiri (France), Anis Ben Slimane (Denmark), Wahbi Khazri (France) and Naim Sliti (France).