Africa is not France, but that obvious fact has not stopped people from the continent from riding on the recent success of Didier Deschamps’ men.
France won the most coveted title in all of sports earlier on Sunday when Le Bleus defeated Croatia in the World Cup Finals in Russia to the tune of a 4-2 score. France were among the pre-tournament favorites, so them taking down Croatia and hoisting the trophy afterward was not that big of a shock.
The French team was composed of players whose lineages could be traced back to Africa, which is also the same reason why Africans, like Trevor Noah of The Daily Show, is claiming that success as one of their own, too.
For every people who feel the same way as Trevor Noah, there’s someone like Orlando Magic shooting guard Evan Fournier, who thinks that appropriating France’s triumph to Africa is a misplaced form of continental pride. Here is Fournier taking a pot shot at Noah.
It’s unfortunate to see such negativity being caused by a sporting victory in a tournament, largely meant to bring people of all races and of any background together. Then again, it’s only human to disagree with each other.
As for the real African nations in the 2018 World Cup, none of which made it past the group stages with Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and Tunisia all failing to reach the knockout phase of the tournament.