Here is a little secret about this column: I pen it (boy, do I actually use a Bic!) ten days before it’s published. So, the creative juices that produced this piece flowed on June 22, and by then we had already recovered from the sting of seeing Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan being denied entry into Trump-land and the controversy surrounding visa restrictions that kept many African fans away from football’s greatest festival, hosted jointly by Canada, Mexico, and the US.

Helping to ease the disappointment caused by the shenanigans of US border officials and visa bureaucrats were the respectable performances of some of the African teams at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

I know a lot could happen between June 22, when I put pen to paper – another expression that technological advance has rendered largely obsolete, but which stubbornly refuses to die – and the final whistle on July 19. But, at that point, Africa’s representatives had done the continent proud.

Morocco once again showed that it belonged among the elite, taking four points from matches against powerhouse Brazil and Scotland. Egypt reminded the world that Africa’s most decorated football nation remains a force to be reckoned with, drawing with Belgium, before dispatching New Zealand. Côte d’Ivoire proved an awkward customer, defeating Ecuador, and narrowly losing to Germany, while Cabo Verde continued to punch above its weight, emerging unbeaten from encounters with Spain and Uruguay.

But perhaps Africa’s greatest contribution to this year’s World Cup has come from teams that do not wear African jerseys. A look at the starting line-ups of France, England, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal – and even Germany – shows just how much African DNA is represented among football’s elite national teams.

France’s starting line-up in its opening match, in particular, looked like a United Nations (UN) of sorts, featuring descendants of migrants from Africa and elsewhere. I’m referring to Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappé, who is of Cameroonian and Algerian parentage; emerging star Désiré Doué, who has an Ivorian father and a French mother and turns out for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG); Aurélien Tchouaméni, whose folks hailed from Cameroon and who is a key player at Real Madrid; Barcelona’s Jules Kounde, who traces his roots to Benin; Arsenal’s William Saliba, scion of a Cameroonian mother and a Lebanese father; Bayern Munich defender Dayot Upamecano, through whose veins Guinea-Bissau and Senegalese blood flows; and rising star Michael Olise of Bayern Munich, who has a Nigerian father and a Franco-Algerian mother. Ousmane Dembélé, who plays for PSG and is regarded by some as a Ballon d’Or-level star, is also a descendant of the African soil, with ties to Mali, Mauritania and Senegal.

Also playing for the French team at the ongoing tournament are AC Milan ace goalkeeper Mike Maignan and Theo Hernández, who spent five years at AC Milan before moving to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia in July 2025. They have Haitian and Spanish heritage respectively. Les Bleus is a veritable UN ensemble!

And the English team? It draws heavily from families with roots in Nigeria, Ghana and the Caribbean, while Belgium’s squad reflects links to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Portugal’s football story cannot be told without Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Principé, and Cabo Verde. Even the Netherlands and Germany have quietly benefited from talent whose family trees are firmly rooted in African soil.

Indeed, if FIFA president Gianni Infantino were to laughably decree that an African Heritage XI be assembled – I can’t put that above a fellow who created a FIFA Peace Prize and awarded it to Donald Trump – those given that task would struggle less with quality than with selection headaches.

An oft-quoted complaint, especially among those who deal with weightier matters such as economic development and international trade, is that Africa exports raw materials while Europe exports pricier manufactured goods. But in football Africa seems to have moved up the value chain, with the continent now exporting talent, technique and, occasionally, the player who scores the winning goal against an African team. Mbappé and Olise did just that, each scoring in France’s 3-1 win over Senegal at the New Jersey stadium on June 16.

This may be bittersweet, but it also serves as a reminder of the extent of Africa’s contribution to modern football.

So, while it’s possible all the African teams still in the running may falter before July 19, the continent can still justifiably celebrate if France – bookmaker FanDuel’s favourite at the time of writing – or any of the other big guns I mentioned earlier lifts the holy grail.