National Geographic

+``````Australia``````Nigeria``````Morocco``````Egypt``````Portugal``````Croatia``````Belgium``````Iceland``````Poland``````Peru``````Tunisia``````UruguayArgentinaSpainFranceEnglandSwitzerland``````SerbiaGermanySweden``````Denmark``````Russia(host)``````BrazilColombia``````Costa Rica``````Panama``````Mexico``````Iran``````Japan``````S. KoreaSaudi Arabia``````Senegal``````CONCACAF``````CONMEBOL``````CAF``````OFC``````UEFAEurope``````AFCNorth America,Central America,and the Caribbean``````South America Oceania``````Africa``````Asia andAustralia``````7``````12``````2``````2``````2``````2``````2``````2(^13)players born(^) in France (^) but played (^) for (^) MoroccoForeign-born player’s connection frombirthplace to World Cup teamNational team withforeign-born playersNational teamwith no foreign-born playersNot shown: 35 foreign-born players who wereborn in countries thatdidn’t qualifyArrow width showsnumber of players;those with more thanone player are labeled.CountryCountryCountry 6 or fewer appearancesWorld Cup win7–14 appearances15 or more appearancesTHE 2018 FIFA WORLD CUP in Russia will feature 32 soccer teamsfrom around the world. But just because a team representsa country doesn’t mean all its players were born there. Family her-itage and dual citizenship are factors that players consider whenchoosing which country to represent. Of the 32 teams, 25 of themfielded at least one foreign-born player during qualification forthe world’s most watched single-sport tournament— covered thissummer by National Geographic in partnership with Fox Sports.In total, 97 foreign-born players competedfor the 32 countries (shown here) thatqualified for the 2018 World Cup.In the lead-up to the 2018World Cup, 209 teams fromsix regional confederationsvied to qualify.Between 1930 and 2018,79 national teams have qualifiedfor a World Cup tournament.Only eight have been champions.Thirty-five French-bornplayers will likely com-pete for other countries,such as Senegal, Tunisia,and Morocco—a legacyof French colonialismin Africa and wavesof immigration.BY RILEY D. CHAMPINESOCCERWITHOUTBORDERSFRENCH EXPORTSCOUNTS OF FOREIGN-BORN PLAYERS TAKEN FROMOFFICIAL MATCHES PLAYED DURING QUALIFICATION PERIOD.RESEARCH: SCOTT ELDERSOURCE: CIES FOOTBALL OBSERVATORYEMBARK | DATA SHEET