When Ayyoub Bouaddi walks onto the field in Boston for Thursday’s World Cup quarter-final, he will be wearing a Morocco jersey. Only 101 days earlier, he had donned the France kit while leading the Under-21 side to a 2-1 victory against Iceland in a European Championship qualifier.
Morocco had long pursued Bouaddi, and speaking ahead of that fixture, he said he required time to weigh his international options. “I prefer not to hurry things,” added the Lille midfielder. Six weeks afterwards, he earned a spot in Morocco’s World Cup squad. “A significant loss,” is how Hubert Fournier, the French national team’s technical director, put it. “A treasure lost,” according to L’Équipe.
“He is an excellent footballer,” remarked Guy Stéphan, France’s assistant coach, earlier this week. “He has made his decision. We hold no criticism for him; quite the contrary. He opted for another sporting nationality. He is not the first, nor will he be the last.”
Bouaddi is far from alone. This summer’s World Cup features 99 players who were born in France – 32 more than the next highest, the Netherlands. Only seven members of Morocco’s squad were born there. Three were born in the Netherlands, the side they eliminated on penalties in the last 32. Six hail from France, their upcoming opponents.
Following Morocco’s penalty shootout victory over the Oranje, Azzedine Ounahi joked that the “suppliers” had triumphed. France, and particularly the greater Paris area, the Île-de-France, serves as the largest “supplier” at this World Cup. Of the 99 players born in France, 52 hail from this region; only 12 represent the French national team.
Eight players from Île-de-France featured at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and 12 at the tournament in Qatar four years later. The trend is clearly upward. São Paulo once stood as the global hub for player development, but that is no longer the case. Scouts have long taken notice, and it is a fertile ground now being tapped. After largely overlooking the rich pool of talent on their very doorstep, Paris Saint-Germain have in recent seasons altered their approach, creating a clear route for academy graduates into the first team – as seen recently with Warren Zaïre-Emery and Senny Mayulu.
The fierce competition drives ever-higher standards. With football viewed as a vehicle for social mobility, an unrelenting intensity pervades, even at the amateur level. At club level, this creates a talent surplus. “There are simply too many gifted players for clubs to utilize fully,” one scout explains. As a result, foreign clubs are increasingly plugged into the Parisian scene, and across France.
The situation mirrors itself at international level, where the surplus becomes France’s gift to the world. Morocco certainly benefits from the talent developed in France. There is no resentment towards Bouaddi, despite efforts by the French football federation – and reportedly Zinédine Zidane – to persuade him to play in bleu.
Bouaddi is not the only one who could face his country of birth in the quarter-final. Neil El Aynaoui, born in Nancy, is likely to partner him in midfield. Samir El Mourabet, born in Strasbourg and now with his hometown club, is another candidate to start in midfield; Issa Diop, who represented France at Under-21 level, is expected to start in defense. Gessime Yassine, born near Marseille, and Redouane Halhal, born in Montpellier, are also in Mohamed Ouahbi’s squad.
They belong to a distinctly multicultural Morocco squad, comprising 19 players born abroad – from France, the Netherlands, Spain, Canada and Belgium. Morocco is an extreme case, but 23% of players at the tournament do not represent the nation of their birth.
Morocco have strong arguments to lure talent, beyond sentimental ties, which are often invoked when players choose to represent their ancestral homeland. Having reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2022 and built the Mohammed VI Academy – a national training facility that rivals those of Europe’s elite – there is both ambition and vision.
France’s colonial past in North Africa means a significant Maghrebin diaspora resides there. Over a tenth of France’s population was born elsewhere; nearly half of those were born in Africa. This diversity proved France’s strength when they lifted the World Cup in 1998, epitomized by the “Black, Blanc, Beur” slogan.
Diversity remains France’s strength, despite facing attacks. In 2024, Enzo Fernández apologized after he and other Argentina players were filmed singing a chant that included the line “They play for France, but all come from Angola,” from inside the team bus.
After France defeated Paraguay in the last 32, Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla described Kylian Mbappé as a “colonised Cameroonian, desperately trying to pass himself off as French”. The FFF have condemned the “utterly abhorrent and unacceptable” remarks, as have the UN Human Rights office; the Paraguayan government has distanced itself, and French prosecutors have launched an investigation.
These remarks serve as more than just a backdrop as France prepare to take on Morocco. Politics and sport have been intertwined all tournament: from the handling of the Iran delegation, the decision to bar Somali referee Omar Artan from entering the US, to Donald Trump’s involvement in Folarin Balogun’s suspension.
Mbappé has found himself at the heart of a political storm after his criticism and concern over the far right’s rise in France drew rebuke from Michel Platini before the tournament. “The France national team reflects the French population,” said Deschamps in response in May. After Amarilla’s attack on Mbappé, FFF president Philippe Diallo reiterated the point, saying: “France’s national team players represent France.”
Diversity is France’s strength, and other nations, including Morocco, are now reaping the benefits as well.
What do you feel about this post?
Like
Love
Happy
Haha
Sad
