By Mark Gleeson
ATLANTA, June 17 (Reuters) - Morocco’s impressive performance against Brazil on the opening weekend of the World Cup and the shock draw that tiny Cape Verde forced against Spain came from a foundation of studious assimilation of players from around Europe, vastly strengthening their side with talent from the diaspora.
All 11 Morocco starters were born outside the country and developed at European clubs, save for Canadian-born but home-grown goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
Most African nations
have turned over the last two decades to migrant communities in Europe to find players and been able to dramatically improve their competitiveness, none more so than Cape Verde, with a small population of around 600,000, who have relied on players born, or raised, in Europe to see them to unlikely World Cup qualification when just over two decades ago they had not even entered the qualifiers.
Global migration, much changed FIFA eligibility rules and aggressive scouting of diaspora talent have significantly changed the landscape of world football.
WHAT ARE THE RULES?
All players competing at the World Cup must be citizens of the country they represent and there is a physical passport check. To avoid countries handing out passports to foreigners to cynically strengthen their squads, players must have resided five years in that country or have a parent or grandparent born there.
ELIGIBILITY
In the early days of the World Cup there were no rules on eligibility and Luis Monti played for Argentina in the first tournament in 1930 and four years later for Italy after he had moved there to join Juventus. FIFA later imposed a strict policy of once a player had played an international match in an official competition at any level, they were tied to that country without exception.
HOW IT CHANGED
North African football federations were the early agitators for players to be able to switch their footballing nationality. “We didn’t think it was fair that players (of African origin) were being selected for junior teams of European countries and then never getting a chance to play at full international level. Our proposal was to give liberty and freedom to these players to have a right to choose,” said Mohamed Raouraoua, the former Algerian football federation president who was an architect of the proposal.
“Having these players is a huge benefit for many African teams. It improves the whole football product,” he added. FIFA amended its statutes in 2003, allowing players to switch their international career as long as they could prove eligibility for double nationality and had not previously played at full international level. FIFA imposed an age limit of 21 for the switch but later allowed players of all ages to seek new visas at international level.
WHO WAS FIRST?
Defender Antar Yahia became the first to benefit from the new rule, debuting for the Algerian Under-23 side in an Olympic Games qualifier in January 2004. His senior debut came two weeks later. He had been a French Under-20 international. Any change must be approved by FIFA after a formal application.
WHO HAS FOLLOWED?
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Frederic Kanoute were both French junior internationals who changed allegiance and went onto be crowned African Footballer of the Year. Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly has won over 100 caps since he committed to the West African nation after playing for France at Under-20 level. There have been benefits outside of Africa too with Declan Rice, capped at all levels by Ireland, switching to England and emerging as a midfield stalwart.
THE IMPACT
This World Cup has an extraordinary 289 players, nearly 25% of those at the tournament in Canada, Mexico, and the United States, representing nations they were not born in. Many of these have done so after a change of sporting nationality and are now reaping the rewards with a chance to play on the sport’s greatest stage. One example is teenager Ibrahim Mbaye, who scored for Senegal against France on Tuesday, less than a year after he last played for the French at junior level.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Atlanta; Editing by Ed Osmond)
