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France’s 2018 FIFA World Cup winning squad had several players of African origin including two players who were born in Africa namely - Samuel Umtiti (Cameroon) and Steve Mandanda (Zaire).
Even members of the France team that won the World Cup in 1998 had players who were born in Africa. Patrick Vieira was born in Senegal and Marcel Desailly was born in Ghana.
It is not just players of African origin, there are many players with a non-French origin eligible to play for France and it is understandable why they would want to play for the newly crowned World Champions as their chances of winning an international trophy is enhanced.
However, there are also players who choose to represent another country despite being eligible to play for France. So, we picked out the five biggest superstars from the current crop of footballers who were eligible to play for France but chose not to.
Honourable mentions - Mehdi Benatia (Morocco), Anthony Lopes (Portugal) and Raphaël Guerreiro (Portugal)
#5 Leroy Sane (Germany)
Leroy Sane was eligible to represent Germany, France and Senegal at the international level. The German-born forward’s mother, Regina Weber, is a bronze medalist at the 1984 Olympics for Germany in rhythmic gymnastics and his father is a former Senegalese international born in Senegal and raised in France.
The Manchester City forward was eligible to represent Germany through his birth and his mother, while he was eligible to represent Senegal through his father. He also holds a French citizenship which makes him eligible to play for the two-time World Champions.
Speaking of representing France, Sane made the following comments:
"I was born and raised in Germany. I still have family in France, but I feel German. That's why I decided to wear the shirt of the Nationalmannschaft.
"There was never any question of wearing that of France or Senegal. My country is Germany. I got a tattoo of the map of Senegal, it's true, as well as Germany's. Not that of France, sorry."
Sane was left out of Germany’s squad for the World Cup despite being named the PFA Young Player of the Year in 2017/18 for helping Man City win the league title. If he had picked France, then he would have surely been in the squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
#4 Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal)
Kalidou Koulibaly played at the 2018 FIFA World Cup albeit not for France. The Napoli defender was born in France and started his professional career with Metz before moving to Belgium and later to Italy.
There is no doubt that Koulibaly would have played for France if he didn’t choose to play for Senegal. In 2015, when he switched his allegiance to Senegal, France manager Didier Deschamps was considering calling up the player to the senior team.
Koulibaly, who has 28 caps for Senegal, played eleven times for France at the Under-20 level. After he made his debut for Senegal, Deschamps continued scouting him without realising he is no longer eligible to play for France.
"I heard that a member of the French national team’s scouting team came to watch Napoli against Empoli recently but I thought it was for [Empoli’s Vincent] Laurini who is also French.
"When I arrived at Napoli, I knew that there would be an opening. I waited for a long time for my chance [with France] and I decided to play for Senegal. It was a choice from the heart and I’ve no regrets." - Koulibaly
#3 Gonzalo Higuain (Argentina)
With 31 goals in 75 games, Gonzalo Higuain is Argentina’s sixth highest goalscorer of all-time and third highest among active players behind Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero.
The Milan forward is only the third foreign-born player to represent the Albiceleste. Higuain was born in Frane while his father was playing for French side Stade Brestois 29. However, Higuain moved to Argentina when he was only 10 months old and doesn’t even speak French.
Higuain played for River Plate in Argentina and in 2006, then France manager, Raymond Domenech, included the player in the France senior squad but Higuain’s father informed Domenech that the player was not ready to choose which country he wanted to play for. In fact, Higuain also rejected a call-up to the Argentina senior side around the same time.
Eventually, he made his debut for Argentina in 2009 and has gone on to represent them at six major international tournaments including three FIFA World Cups.
#2 Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)
Riyad Mahrez was born in Sarcelles, France, to an Algerian father and a mother of Algerian and Moroccan descent. Growing up, he would spend his holidays in Algeria and one of his childhood friends is French international Wissam Ben Yedder.
Mahrez expressed his desire to play for Algeria in November 2013 when he was playing at club level for Le Havre. He was included in the Algerian squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup but the Algerian media was critical of his inclusion in the squad and there were claims that he paid the manager Vahid Halilhodžić for a placed in the squad.
The former Leicester City star only played for Algeria in the first game of the World Cup and was dropped for the subsequent games as they reached the quarterfinal. However, Mahrez went on to become an influential member of the national team after the World Cup and has eight goals in 39 games for the Desert Foxes.
#1 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was eligible to play for France, Spain, Italy and Gabon but he chose to represent Gabon because his father once captained the national team.
Aubameyang was born in Laval, France when his father was playing for Stade Lavallois and this made him eligible to play for France. He was eligible to play for Spain because his mother is Spanish, he was eligible to play for Gabon through his father and he was eligible to play for Italy because he spent his youth career in Italy playing for Milan.
He was invited to play for the Italy U19 team in 2009 but he instead, made his debut for France at the U21 level and that was his only appearance for France at any level. The same year, he made his debut for Gabon at the senior level.
The Arsenal forward has represented Gabon in 57 games and scored 24 goals. He also played for Gabon at the 2012 Summer Olympics and scored their only goal of the tournament before being eliminated in the group stage.
