USA TODAY International Edition
Marquee event showcases diversity Immigration and soccer intertwined
SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia – It’s not just in the United States that immigration is a hot-button issue.
However, the whole “stick to sports” nonsense simply doesn’t fly when it comes to the World Cup.
If not for the mass movement of humanity around the world, soccer’s favorite tournament would look drastically different and this weekend’s thirdplace and championship game would be virtually unrecognizable.
Soccer and immigration are fully intertwined, with no greater example needed than the makeup of the last four teams that battled it out for the sport’s finest prize.
“I don’t see that they are black,” Eric Sens, a white French fan, told USA TODAY on Tuesday. “I see that they are blue.”
Sens was referring to the fact that the French team (nicknamed “les Bleus”) and its dominant run to the final came with a squad that contained 12 players of African ancestry, stretched across nine African nations. To those who support the national team, the makeup of the team is either a source of pride or a non-issue. For right-wing groups, it has become fuel for criticism.
“With the exception of a few idiots, our country feels very warmly towards this team,” Sens continued. “They are a reflection of France.”
His sentiments are noble and understated. France’s squad is represented by minorities in numbers far exceeding that of immigration levels. According to the “Guardian” newspaper, 78.3 percent of the French squad comes from some kind of migrant background, compared with 6.8 percent of the country overall.
Soccer has proved to be a powerful factor in terms of integrating immigrant communities. Poorer, working-class areas have served as a rich pool of talent, some of which has made its way to the national team.
France’s newest superstar, forward Kylian Mbappe, was born to an Algerian mother and a Cameroonian father yet is a hero for millions of French youngsters of all ethnicities. N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba are also of African heritage and crucial members of the team.
Belgium’s squad is also quite diverse, yet star Romelu Lukaku, one of the best forwards in the world, has spoken of his struggles to gain acceptance.
“When things were going well, I was reading newspaper articles and they were calling me ‘Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker,’ ” he wrote in “The Players’ Tribune.” “When things weren’t going well, they were calling me ‘Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker of Congolese descent.’ If you don’t like the way I play, that’s fine. But I was born here. I grew up in Antwerp, and Liege and Brussels.”
Of Belgium’s 23-man squad, 11 players are from migrant backgrounds, a percentage of 47.8, compared with the national level of 12.1. In England, the tally is also 11 out of 23, with a national average of 9.2 percent.
“We have the chance to affect something bigger than ourselves,” England head coach Gareth Southgate said ahead of his team’s semifinal match against Croatia. “Particularly with our diversity and youth — and represent a modern England.”
While Croatia’s squad is largely white, it too has drawn heavily on those with links to other countries. Players who grew up abroad but have Croatian roots have long been part of the Croatia team, with two of them, Ivan Rakitic and Mateo Kovacic, being raised in Switzerland and Austria, respectively. Rakitic, alongside Luka Modric, has formed perhaps the strongest midfield duo in the tournament.
“Football allows us to put immigration on stage, a question that is agitating European countries right now,” Yvan Gastaut, a University of Nice historian, told the Associated Press. “For people who see immigration as a danger, this World Cup story won’t resolve that. But it allows us to take stock of the reality of the world, of mobility, movements, multiple identities.”
Ultimately, the art of being successful at a World Cup is about collecting multiple identities and getting them to work together as a collective and cohesive group, regardless of where they are from. As this World Cup has shown, what defines an individual’s worth as a soccer player has nothing to do with his background and everything to do with what he adds to a team.