90 years on, Africa still counting loss of exodus

When Lamine Yamal scored the opening goal against Saudi Arabia, it reignited the old debate about how long African countries will pay the price for the exodus.

The history is replete with such incidents in sports where a country has paid the price for the migration of their talented players.

More often than not, these players become star performers for their adopted countries. Poor nations are left lamenting the loss of something they never had.

Often, the creme de la creme of developing countries opt for migration to developed countries to explore a better life.

With them, they carry a pool of talent, which hurts their native lands. This talent is harnessed by the countries, who already have them in abundance.

Yamal, who pushed Saudi Arabia on the back foot, was born of one such migrating couple. His father, Mounir Nasraoui, is Moroccan, which gives Yamal his Arab and African roots, while his mother, Sheila Ebana, hails from Equatorial Guinea.

A massive contingent of players with African roots or direct birth ties are representing European countries at the showpiece event.

All the European teams combined feature over 100 players of African descent, with France leading the tally with 21 such players in their roster, followed by England with 15 and the Netherlands with 14 players, respectively.

Most of these African players are star campaigners of their respective teams. From England’s Bukayo Saka and France’s Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele to Spain’s Yamal and Belgium’s Jeremy Doku are a few to name.

Mbappe also has mixed Arab and African roots. His father, Wilfrid, is from Cameroon, and his mother, Fayza Lamari, is of Algerian descent.

Mbappe scored two goals against Senegal in the 66th minute and added one more in the dying moments. The defeat has put Senegal’s chances of qualification for the playoffs in peril.

Tunisia also became the victim of the same against Sweden in their opening match. It was Yasin Ayari, who scored a brace in Tunisia’s routing by Sweden. He scored the first goal in the seventh minute and added one more in extra time as Sweden obliterated Tunisia 5-0.

Ayari was born in Sweden to a Tunisian father, Azzouz Ayari, and a Moroccan mother.

With the brain drain prevailing in African countries, the wait for an African country winning a World Cup looks far from over as their most accomplished talent often help European countries realise their dream of clinching the coveted trophy.

This trend dates back to 1938 when Moroccan forward Larbi Benbarek became the first African player to represent a European country in a FIFA World Cup. Nine decades after Benbarek represented France, African countries are still counting the loss of exodus.