{"id":2427,"date":"2026-07-04T14:08:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=2427"},"modified":"2026-07-04T14:08:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T14:08:24","slug":"who-is-really-playing-in-the-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=2427","title":{"rendered":"Who is really playing in the World Cup?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It is interesting to witness underdog African nations being competitive at the World Cup. Players with an African heritage often exhibit a freewheeling style with unpredictable skills, and the world is noticing. Nowadays, they not only represent their ancestral roots, but adopted countries.<\/p>

Read more How the Founders Celebrated the 4th<\/a><\/p>\n

I assume they\u2019re adopted. I just watched the highlights of a Switzerland match (against Algeria), and several of their starters (and best players) are black. Switzerland, mind you! The number of players of African descent in the Swiss soccer squad is disproportionately greater than their representation in the population, though Black culture in the country is supposedly on the rise.<\/p>\n

To a slightly lesser extent, national identities are flexible within the French and Belgian squads — some of their best players have roots that trace to the \u201cMother Continent.\u201d Interestingly, the son of famed \u201cFrench\u201d player Zinedine Zidane is a goalkeeper for Algeria\u2019s national team. He\u2019d probably play for France if they weren\u2019t so stacked with talent. If \u201cZZ\u201d himself had chosen to play for Algeria, one wonders if \u201cFrench\u201d soccer would have been so successful.<\/p>\n

There is a broader point: while globalization is being \u201ctransformed,\u201d in soccer it continues to thrive. Sometimes it\u2019s even hard to know who to cheer for — or against — when one\u2019s birth country is not in action. For example, the Netherlands recently beat the Netherlands. Or was that Belgium or Spain beating them?<\/p>\n

Sound weird? Well, Morocco knocked out the Netherlands from the World Cup, and none of their starting players were actually born in Morocco — instead, many have deep ties to the Netherlands.<\/p>

Read more America at 250: Will our Founding Ideals Survive?<\/a><\/p>\n

In fact, about 23.3 % of players at the World Cup were born outside the country they represent (As an aside: birthright citizenship is uncommon throughout the world). When Germany beat minnows Cura\u00e7ao 7-1 (a Dutch territory), they really beat a bunch of Netherlanders — almost all of the Curacao players were born there.<\/p>\n

A similar jersey-swapping scenario happens with wishy-washy Olympic athletes — choosing the country they\u2019ll represent, though to a lesser extent.<\/p>\n

I appreciate the cosmopolitan nature of the top domestic soccer leagues, where foreign players inject all kinds of flair and trickery. Still, when it comes to international tournaments, it\u2019d be nice to know who one is really wishing schadenfreude upon. The good ol\u2019 days when one could despise a particular national team because of their\u2026 you know\u2026 nationality.<\/p>

Read more A Verdict on the American Experiment<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Image: White House<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is interesting to witness underdog African nations being competitive at the World Cup. Players with an African heritage often exhibit a freewheeling style with unpredictable skills, and the world is noticing. Nowadays, they not only represent their ancestral roots, but adopted countries. Read more How the Founders Celebrated the 4th I assume they\u2019re adopted. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,271],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-soccer"],"yoast_head":"\nWho is really playing in the World Cup? - Interstate Logistics Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=2427\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who is really playing in the World Cup? - Interstate Logistics Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is interesting to witness underdog African nations being competitive at the World Cup. 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