Though France have lost the FIFA World Cup 2022 against Argentina, the achievements of the team are being recalled by many fans as they flooded the social media platform Twitter, know the football team players nationality and religion
For those who are unsure, let us tell you, France won its first ever FIFA World Cup title in 1998. At the time fans of the team gathered at Champs-Elysees to celebrate the victory of the nation.
A photograph of Zinedine Zidane, who scored a brace in France’s 3-0 victory over Brazil at the time and his images was shared as fans recalled the moment.
Many fans saw this moment as a new multicultural movement emerging under France’s flag as Zidane was the second generation Algerian immigrant.
France Football Team Players Nationality, Country Of Origin, Religion
He was part of the team which consisted of 9 players of Armenian, Ghanaian, Senegalese and Guadeloupean descent.
During the 1998 tournament, the nickname of the French team was changed to “Black, Blanc, Beur,” which means Black, White and Arab, which changed the norm.
It also proved as a sort of cure for a nation that was desperately searching its colonial past with the then-French president Jacques Chirac, who described the football team as a “tricolour and multicolour team.”
However, it wasn’t the first or last time when we saw immigrant players who were caught in the spotlight.
For those who are unversed, let us tell you, the French’s football has always been shaped by immigrants. In the 20th century, we saw players like RC Lens and AS Saint-Etienne, who built the team were of Polish and Italian descent respectively.
In 1938’s World Cup, everyone witnessed Raoul Diagne, who was the descent of Senegalese, become the first Black player to play in the world cup.
Throughout the years, fans of the team witnessed many famous players as immigrants who made their long lasting contributions and influenced French football significantly. These players includes:
Rachid Mekhloufi: Algeria descent,
Marius Tresor: Guadeloupe descent,
Larbi Benbarek: Morocco descent among many more.
Back in the 2018 World Cup, we saw as many as 15 players with African roots while the present team which faced Morocco in the 2022 FIFA World Cup had also first generation migrants or the sons or grandsons of immigrants. In 2018, 78% of the French football team were immigrants, and 50% were Muslim.
In the 2022 team there were three Muslim footballers as France took on Argentina in the Final · 1. Masour Ousmane Dembele · 2. Youssouf Fofana · 3. Ibrahima Konate.
Let us remind you, the famous and star player of the French team such as Kylian Mbappe, who grew up in Paris, however, his father is from Cameroon, and his mother hails from Algeria.
Another player, Antoine Griezmann’s grandfather, was Portuguese while Ousmane Dembele’s mother is Mauritanian and his father hails from Mali.
The French team is a symbol of diversity and unity and the coach, Didier Deschamps, has done his best to integrate all of these players into the national team which is celebrated by the French supporters.
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