71% of the English players fielding in England’s semi-final win over the Netherlands were born abroad or have at least one parent or grandparent born outside the UK.
England is in the final of Euro 2024 against Spainand much of the credit goes to players born outside the UK, or with at least one of their parents or grandparents born abroad.
He London Migration Museum has launched a campaign to highlight the crucial contribution of immigration in propelling England to the final stage of the tournament.
On Wednesday, England defeated the Netherlands 2-1 after an exciting semi-final in which the goals were the work of Harry Kane, of Irish father, and Ollie Watkins, of Jamaican descent.
According to the Migration Museum, 71% of players lined up against those from the Netherlands were born abroad or had at least one parent or grandparent born outside the United Kingdom. But his contribution lasted for much of the tournament.
In the quarterfinals won against Switzerland after a penalty shootout, all the English throwers (Palmer, Bellingham, Toney, Saka and Alexander-Arnold) were migrants.
In Spain, Yamal and Williams are also children of immigrants
England is not the only team that has players of immigrant origin. Two of the most representative soccer players of the rival team in Sunday’s final, Spain, are also of immigrant descent.
Lamine Yamal17 years old, scorer of a decisive goal in the semifinal against France and considered one of the best young talents in the world, was born to an Equatorial Guinean mother and a Moroccan father.
His teammate, Nico Williamsanother of the Spanish revelations at Euro 2024, was born in Pamplona de ghanaian parentswho crossed the Sahara Desert 22 years ago to reach the Spanish North African enclave of Melilla.
Immigration and identity are often hot topicss when an international soccer tournament is held.
Euro 2024 It opened in June with a bitter controversy over racismwhen a German channel published the results of a survey according to which one in five respondents would prefer to have more white players in the national team.
The survey, carried out on 1,304 randomly chosen participants, was commissioned for the ‘ARD’ documentary “Unity, Justice and Diversity”.
German midfielder Joshua Kimmich called the results “absolute nonsense.” “That’s what our team is all about. I would miss a lot of players if they weren’t here. This is absolutely racist and has no place in our locker room.“.
