Maybe the hardest articles to write when the World Cup is about to begin is who the favorites to win it are. It’s such a specific competition and the number of countries who have strong squads is usually big, so predicting it is always tricky. But, don’t worry, we already covered it. The next in line would be the strongest XI of the tournament, which is equally hard. But that doesn’t mean other articles are easy. Just look at the African players. And no, we are not talking about the African continent countries who are participating, we are talking about players of African descent who are unfortunately playing for other countries, for various reasons. There are many African teams who would have been among favorites now, or who would qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, just if some of those players choose to play for them. Let’s begin.Proud of their heritage: the Black Stars arrive in Qatar in beautiful African wearUnfortunately, there are so many players of African origin at the World Cup that it was almost impossible to put them all in the strongest 11. In fact, there are almost three full teams of Africans to choose from, so we decided to divide them to three categories: the best 11, the honorable mention and the upcoming youth.Strongest XI (4-3-3)Goalkeeper: Steve Mandanda (DR Congo)Basically the only name at the tournament. Other positions are well covered but for this one, Marseille legend and France’s third choice goalkeeper is the first (and only) in our team. He played 53 times for all France selections and could have earned more caps for Congo, since he is from Kinshasa, where his family lived, but moved to France when he was a two-year old boy.Defense: Dayot Upamecano (Guinea-Bissau), Antonio Ruddiger (Sierra Leone), Manuel Akanji (Nigeria), Alphonso Davis (Liberia/Ghana)This blend of youth and experience are from various parts of Africa, but they are (almost) all first team players in Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester City. While Upamecano, Ruddiger and Akanji were born in their perspective countries, and are half African, Alphonso Davis was born in a refugee camp in Ghana from Liberian mother and father who went to Canada, which gave him a decent life and he gave them his approval to play in the national team.Midfield: William Carvalho (Angola), Danilo Pereira (Guinea-Bissau), Youri Tielemans (DR Congo)William Carvalho represented Portugal at three World Cups and two European Championships, winning the 2016 edition of the latter tournament. He was born in Angola but moved to Portugal quickly. The Angolan Football Federation called him, but he rejected them and started playing for Portugal U20. He is joined by Paris Saint Germain’s Danilo Pereira, also born outside Portugal, and the Leicester midfield man Youri Tielemans, a Belgium born Congolese. Attack: Kylian Mbappe (Cameroon/Algeria), Karim Benzema (Algeria), Ousmane Dembele (Mauritania/Senegal/Mali)Who can object to this attack? All three players have been born in France, but all of them have both parents from Africa. Ousmane Dembele’s mother is of Mauritia/Senegal decent, while father is a Malian. Benzema’s both parents are from Algeria, while Mbappe is half Cameroonian and half Algerian.Rudiger to donate World Cup money to fund surgeries for children in Sierra LeoneHonorable mention:Michy Batshuayi (DR Congo), Breel Embolo (Cameroon) Memphis Depay (Ghana), Denis Zakaria (South Sudan/DR Congo), Djibril Sow (Senegal), Leroy Sane (Senegal), Serge Gnabry (Ivory Coast), Romelu Lukaku (DR Congo)With strikers like this, DR Congo would qualify for Qatar and be among the favorites to reach the final stages…Can the Mane-less Teranga Lions reach the 2022 World Cup knockout stage?The upcoming youthWhen the next World Cup starts, in 2026 (USA, Canada, Mexico), many of the strongest XI will be retired, but you will find a bunch of guys from this category in the strongest African team. Some of them will surely bring fire in this tournament also, but we used the fact that they are still very young, or have only a few caps for their countries, or haven’t won anything (yet) and placed them here. But boy, what a team…Where do they come from: players are mainly from Bayern and the Premier LeagueDefenders:Ibrahima Konate (Mali), William Saliba (Cameroon), Jules Kounde (Benin), Thomas Deng (South Sudan/Kenya)Midfield:Yunus Musah (Ghana), Aurelien Tchouameni (Cameroon), Eduardo Camavinga (DR Congo/Angola), Nico Williams (Ghana), Awer Mabil (South Sudan/Kenya) Ansu Fati (Guinea-Bissau), Jeremy Doku (Ghana)Attack:Timothy Weah (Liberia) Cody Gakpo (Ghana/Togo) Karim Adeyemi (Nigeria), Youssoufa Moukoko (Cameroon), Garang Kuol (South Sudan/Egypt)##NAJAVA_MECA_6824770##DR Kongo: Steve Mandanda (Rennes), Youri Tielemans (Leicester), Michy Batshuayi (Fenerbahce), Denis Zakaria (Chelsea), Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan); Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid)Ghana: Alphonso Davis (Bayern Munich), Memphis Depay (Barcelona), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Jeremy Doku (Rennes)Cameroon: Kylian Mbappe (PSG), Breel Embolo (Monaco), William Saliba (Arsenal), Aurelien Tchouameni (Real Madrid), Youssoufa Moukoko (Borussia Dortmund)Guinea-Bissau: Dayot Upamecano (Bayern Munich), Danilo Pereira (PSG), Ansu Fati (Barcelona)Senegal: Ousmane Dembele (PSG), Leroy Sane (Bayern Munich), Djibril Sow (Frankfurt)
