Switching allegiance

In recent years, a number of African countries have opted to select players born outside the national territory.

Some of these players represented France in youth or under-age teams but elected to play for the country of their parents at senior international level.

Of the 368 players registered in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations tournament, 93 were born outside the country they were representing.

In total, 38 players for these five countries were born in Europe, the majority in France (25).

At the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, of the 552 players registered in the tournament, 129 were born outside the country they were representing.