Top international footballers with surprising origins

Some people say Africa won the World Cup in 2018, not France. Sounds weird, right? But if you search for the origins of French players, most of them are from the Africa region.

Did you know, even Cristiano Ronaldo has an African origin? And he is not the only famous player with an unexpected origin.

The Business Standard (TBS) has made a list of star football players who have surprising origins that you might not know about.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Cape Verde)

This Portuguese superstar came from a poor family. His mother wanted an abortion. Luckily she didn't.

Ronaldo's great-grandmother, Isabel Rosa, was from Cape Verde, an African Country. She moved to Madeira at the age of 16. Ronaldo was born there and we all know the rest.

Kylian Mbappe (Algeria/Cameroon)

Kylian Mbappe is connected to two other countries like Antoine Griezmann. Mbappe's father, Wilfried was born in Cameroon. Wilfried football coach.

Fayza Lamari, his mother is from Algeria. She is a former handball player.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Croatia/Bosnia)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's father, Sefik Ibrahimovic is a Bosnian Muslim, and his mother, Jurka Gravic a Croatian Christan. They both moved to Sweden.

Zlatan was born in Sweden. His parents got divorced when he was just two. But that couldn't stop him to be one of the best players.

David Silva (Japan)

He was one of the best players in Spain. The story could have been different for him. His father, Fernando Jimenez of Spanish descent but his mother is of a different origin. 

Silva's mother, Eva Silva has of Japanese origin. His calm and respectful behavior surely proves the Japanese etiquette in him.

Paulo Dybala (Poland)

Dybala's grandfather was from Poland. He used to live in a small village named Krasne. During the second world war, he was sent to a concentration camp. He fled to Argentina and some of his family members shifted to Canada. 

The Argentine is curious to know more about his family's history. He always thinks of visiting his ancestor's land.

Antoine Griezmann (Germany/Portugal)

Griezmann is a mixture of two origins. His father, Alain is of German origin. He was a town councilor.  

Griezmann's mother has a Portuguese origin. His mother is the daughter of Amaro who played for Portugal. In 1957 Amaro moved to France. 

Marco Asensio (Netherlands)

Asensio's mother, Maria Willemsen was from the Netherlands. His father is Spanish. Asensio was 15 when his mother died of cancer. From then he maintains his attachment to his second country.

Ruud van Nistelrooy requested him to play for the Netherlands. But he chooses his father's land, Spain.      

Dele Ali (Nigeria)

Dele Ali's father, Kenny is a Nigerian.

The saddest part was when his father left the family, Ali was only a week old. His father moved to the US.

Ali was brought up by his mother.

Edinson Cavani (Italy)

Cavani's grandparents are from Sicily. That's why he is very attached to Italy.

When he had to leave Uruguay, he chose to join Palermo. It was his first step in Europe. Then he joined big clubs like Napoli, PSG, Manchester United.

Deco (Japan)

Deco struggled a lot in the beginning. But under Jose Mourinho, he started to shine.

This Portuguese player was born in Brazil. His mother is Brazilian and his father is Portuguese. But the interesting story is, his Brazilian mother has Japanese origin.