During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, there were no less than 37 of them to be born in France and to compete in the supreme tournament under the colors of another country. From the Spaniard Aymeric Laporte to the Senegalese Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly, including the Portuguese Raphaël Guerreiro, the Moroccan Romain Saïss, the Tunisian Wahbi Khazri and the Cameroonian Karl Toko Ekambi.
Many so-called binational players have opted for a sporting nationality other than that of their country of birth, even after having played among the Blues in the youth categories. This was the case for example for Robin Le Normand (Spain), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria) or even Sébastien Haller (Ivory Coast) not to mention the previous examples.
A call-up to the Blues
The next on the list could well be Alban Lafont, the FC Nantes goalkeeper who since 2015 has learned his lessons in tricolor, first with the U16s, then the U17s, the U18s, the U19s, the U20s and finally the Espoirs. In September 2022, the person concerned was called to the A by Didier Deschamps to compensate for the then withdrawal of Hugo Lloris – without however coming into play. But the boy’s luck in blue may have passed…
Now aged 25, Alban Lafont could very soon opt for Burkinabe nationality, he being a native of Ouagadougou. According to the regional daily Ouest-France, the Burkinabe Football Federation is working to convince the Canary. A former Toulouse player who also played for Fiorentina who until then had always reserved himself for the French team. The appeal of the Stallions and the international scene would no longer leave the former TFC nugget indifferent.
