How Multiculturalism Can Win World Cup 2022
G'day Hiveans, we're in a World Cup year! When France won the 2018 World Cup it did so representing the 9.1% of French people that have an immigrant background. From the 23-man squad 2018 World Cup winning France team, 87% of the team were an immigrant or have parents that are immigrants. Kylian Mbappe is of mixed Cameroonian and Algerian ethnicity. Paul Pogba is of Guinean descent.
World Cup 2022 winner predictions could come down to football diversity, and how a country integrates football pathways for immigrant populations.
In 2003 Togo had boosted their African Nations Cup qualifying chances by including five Brazilian-born players, without any ancestral links, in their squad. Ultimately they would miss out on qualifying, finishing as runners-up, but it did kick start a trend.
In 2004, World Cup 2022 hosts Qatar had naturalized Brazilian Fábio César which led to an emergency FIFA committee meeting. The committee decided that players had to demonstrate a clear connection to a country they weren’t born in or by having played for at least two years in a country before being eligible to play for them internationally.
In 2008 FIFA would change the rules to require a five-year residency from the age of 18 if a player wants to acquire a new nationality. The most famous changes in allegiance are Diego Costa (Spain) and Thiago Motta (Italy). In 2014 Costa would controversially represent Spain, having represented Brazil just the year before.
Because those games for Brazil were only friendlies, FIFA had granted a request for Costa to represent Spain. Costa and Motta were branded as traitors by their countries of origin when they switched national teams.
Equatorial Guinea have attracted controversy of the naturalization of citizens. In a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification round, Equatorial Guinea recruited nine Brazilian players to try and overturn a four-goal deficit in the second leg against Democratic Republic of the Congo. They would win the second leg 2-1 however lost the tie 5-2.
In qualification for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea would beat Mauritania and were to face Uganda in the next round. They would be expelled from the competition for including ineligible players which were found to have fake passports under false names.
As hosts, Qatar are not expected to be among the favorites of those who will win the 2022 World Cup but they've improved considerably over the last few years. In their hopes of a miracle World Cup win at home, Qatar’s recent football squads have included migrants from Senegal, Guinea, Iraq, Ghana, Kuwait, Portugal, France, Brazil, Uruguay, Bahrain and Egypt.
Germany’s 2014 World Cup winning squad had Tunisian Ghanaian, Albanian, Turkish and Polish migrant origins. Current world champions France are likely to field a team similar to the 87% of players with a migrant connection from their 2018 World Cup winning squad.
You can bet that the best teams in World Cup 2022 will have strong ties to immigration. The impact of football migrants and football diversity is proving to be the way to win a World Cup.
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Coincidentally I was thinking of doing a similar post to highlight the best African players not playing at AFCON because they've been nabbed by European nations.
There is of course a big difference between some of the players mentioned above who have moved as children to a new country and those players for countries like Equatorial Guinea who are nothing more than ringers. That sort of thing needs to stamped out by FIFA and the relevant bodies
That would be an awesome post. That reminds me of players like Gerald Asamoah. That brings back memories. I've supported Germany s a kid through my grandfather and I have Ghanian mates so that was always a fun convo.
Emmanuel Olisadebe was one I remember fondly when growing up. Before Lewandowski, he helped solve Poland's striker issue before the 2006 World Cup.
Oh yeah, I remember Olisadebe. I think actually more from computer games than real life.
I guess had Germany not kept stealing their forwards (Klose, Podolski) they wouldn’t have had to go get one from Nigeria!
Hehe not a bad point. Klose was so lethal infront of goal, and Podolski was one of my hero's growing up. He was good, but the way he was talked about in his youth years was like he was going to be the next Klinsmann or something.
FIFA and Football Manager has helped create a database of players in my head. My big years were 2002-07 playing Football Manager. It was crazy Brentford getting promoted to the PL as I did the same thing way back then. Also seeing some players who are in there 30's that I had as young teenagers in FM is cool too.
thats is an interesting fact to see.
but geez, how can Equatorial Guinea do such thing and not just one. They should not be allowed to join any international game isn't it?
yep, desperation move
This is not only happening in Football but most sports today. The likelihood of having a 100% French team is nil. They have always had "imports" like Zidane and Benzema so this is no different. England's Cricket team has a mix of all sorts, New Zealand All Blacks rugby team is mainly imports from the Islands of Samoa ,Fiji and you can't blame the players as they follow the money. 14 of their 31 man world cup team were born elsewhere.
Oof that stuck a chord. I've got Samoan heritage and it's bitter sweet having a very poor national rugby team. I do recognise though the money for family and I try and look through it all. I also recognise the friendship that NZ offers Samoa as a whole which is beneficial for the nation.
I'm Australian and Samoans are in the Wallabies side and it does make me proud. It is hard though to see the talent drain with Samoans playing for the English, French, Japanese, even in Romania.
It suppose it's like Brazilians in football/soccer
How true this is!
I remember Germany also had David Odonkor of Ghanaian descent, Ozil and Gundogan not left out.
I think over the years, France most likely has the highest rate of players who are not originally French due to their colonial ties and boundary-sharing with many West African countries. At a point, you could almost call the French national team African Union. 😁
Great work here, @wolfgangsport
@reservedsingle MAN! David Odonkor he was a gun. I have Ghanaian mates at school and loved the fact Odonkor was playing for Germany. He had absolute pace and I remember his assist very vividly for Oliver Neuville at the 06' World Cup. Gundogan I'm a big fan of too. Remember Asamoah? Tank striker!
Yep, I just hope that French people respect the origins of their team. They should be considered French to everyone in the country, not just when they're winning the World Cup.
I think the only memory I have of Odonkor too was the 2006 World Cup.
The good thing about France's is that it may be hard for them to be racially tagged since they make up majority unlike a country like Germany where people like Ozil are crucified when the team isn't doing well. Remember how he said it was the bane of his exit from the national team?
In all, the core of your piece says it all, multiculturalism wins.
I think it is a good thing too. I have hope that the Australian National team the Socceroos can become stronger down the track on the back of our multicultural background