The allure of the Diaspora at AFCON 2024

Twenty-four national teams, divided into six groups, compete in the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast from January 13 to February 11.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) allowed each team to register up to 27 players, and teams could submit that number or fewer depending on the needs of their coaching staff.

One of the most striking aspects of the 2024 AFCON is the presence of a large number of players born outside of Africa, especially in Europe. These players are represented in the squads of various nations competing in the tournament.

The number of Diaspora players in the 2024 AFCON is 200, or 31.8 percent of the total number of players. The remaining 430 players were born in Africa.

The Tanzania national team, Taifa Stars, is one of the teams that has include Diaspora players in the tournament this year. Five of its players were born in different European countries.

Those players are Haji Mnoga, Tarryn Allarakhia, and Ben Starkie, who were born in England; Kwesi Kawawa, who was born in Sweden; and Miano Danilo, who was born in the Netherlands.

The Morocco national team has the largest number of Diaspora players in the tournament this year, with 18 players born outside of Africa. Only nine of its players were born in Morocco.

Morocco is followed closely by Equatorial Guinea, which has 17 Diaspora players, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has 16. Algeria is fourth with 14, and Cape Verde is fifth with 13.

Only three of the 24 participating nations will play in the 2024 AFCON without a Diaspora player. These teams have only called up players who were born in their home countries.

The three national teams that have not submitted a single name of a player born outside of Africa are Egypt, South Africa, and Namibia.

The majority of Diaspora players in the 2024 AFCON were born in France. Some of them even played for their youth national teams before deciding to play for the senior national teams of their parents' countries of origin.

Of the 200 Diaspora players in the AFCON in Ivory Coast, 104 were born in France. The second-most represented country is Spain, with 24 players born there.

Fifteen Diaspora players were born in England, 13 in the Netherlands, and 10 in Portugal.

Other countries that have produced Diaspora players who will play in the 2024 AFCON are Denmark, Ireland, Switzerland, and Sweden.

The Diaspora players are expected to make a big impact in Group A, which includes Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau. This group has the largest number of Diaspora players of any of the five groups in the tournament.

Group A has 42 Diaspora players, followed by Groups C and F, each with 40.

Group E has the smallest number of Diaspora players, with 17, while Group B has 27 and Group D has 34.