https://conormclaughlin.net/tags/2026-world-cup/ Recent content in 2026 World Cup on Conor McLaughlin Hugo en-us Sun, 12 Jul 2026 17:00:00 -0700 https://conormclaughlin.net/2026/07/france-is-the-world-cups-biggest-exporter-of-football-talent/ Sun, 12 Jul 2026 17:00:00 -0700 https://conormclaughlin.net/2026/07/france-is-the-world-cups-biggest-exporter-of-football-talent/ <p>One of the most interesting backstories at the 2026 World Cup has been the huge surge in &ldquo;foreign-born&rdquo; players who compete for a different nation than their birth country. Per <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz9lj5k7lp1o">the BBC</a>, foreign-born players now account for 23.2% of all players, up meaningfully from 16.5% in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and 11.4% in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.</p> <p>Nowhere was this trend more visible than in the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/07/10/nx-s1-5887457/on-the-streets-of-paris-hearts-were-divided-as-france-beat-morocco-in-the-world-cup">France vs Morocco quarterfinal</a>, in which roughly <em>half</em> of the starting Moroccan side was actually <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/09/france-morocco-diverse-multicultural-world-cup-tournament-quarter-final">born in France</a>, making the match almost an all-French affair!</p>