Jose Mourinho wants FIFA to stop European countries from selecting African players after the great success of the 2023 African Cup of Nations.

At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, more than 50 players with African heritage played for non-African countries.

The biggest examples are World Cup-winner Kylian Mbappe (Cameroon/Algeria), Arsenal superstar Bukayo Saka (Nigeria), Bayern Munich duo Jamal Musiala (Nigeria) and Alphonso Davies (Liberia), Real Madrid quartet Eduardo Camavinga (Angola/DR Congo), Antonio Rudiger (Sierra Leone), Aurelien Tchouameni (Cameroon), and David Alaba (Nigeria), as well as Liverpool striker Cody Gakpo (Ghana/Togo).

Some of the biggest talents in the world of football could be representing African nations but instead play for European giants. This trend, however, has started to change.

Inaki Williams (Ghana), Alex Iwobi (Nigeria), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), and Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal) are all examples of players who opted to represent their African roots instead of their European place of birth.

Mourinho has always backed African talent and believes that if players with African heritage stopped playing for European nations, Africa would become one of the strongest footballing continents in the world.

🇵🇹🗣 José Mourinho: “I want the world to see that Africa is equal with everyone. Africans are not behind in talent. They have the talent to win any tournament, except that most of their best players are scattered around the world playing for other countries instead of their… pic.twitter.com/eLGP1YKWh4

— Football Talk (@FootballTalkHQ) February 12, 2024

Photo: Twitter/@DeadlineDayLive