71% of English players fielded in England’s semifinal win over the Netherlands were born abroad or have at least one parent or grandparent born outside the UK.
England are into the final of Euro 2024 against Spain, and much of the credit goes to players born outside the UK, or with at least one parent or grandparent born abroad.
London’s Migration Museum has launched a campaign to highlight the fundamental contribution of immigration in propelling England to the final act of the tournament.
England defeated the Netherlands 2-1 after an exciting semi-final, on Wednesday, where the goals were scored by Harry Kane, born to an Irish father, and Ollie Watkins, of Jamaican heritage.
According to the Migration Museum, 71% of the players fielded against the Dutch were either born abroad or have at least one parent or grandparent born outside the UK.
But their contribution stretched throughout much of the tournament.
In the quarterfinals won against Switzerland after a shootout, all the English penalty takers – Palmer, Bellingham, Toney, Saka, and Alexander-Arnold – fall under this category.
Spain’s key players Yamal and Williams also migrant children
England are not the only team fielding players with a migrant background.
Two of the most representative footballers in the opponent’s team in the Sunday final, Spain, are of migrant descent too.
Seventeen-year-old Lamine Yamal, who scored a decisive goal in the semi-final against France and is regarded as one of the world’s top young talents, was born to an Equatorial Guinean mother and a Moroccan father.
His teammate, Nico Williams, another Spanish revelation at Euro 2024, was born in Pamplona to Ghanaian parents, who 22 years ago travelled across the Sahara Desert to reach the north-African Spanish enclave of Melilla.
Migration and identity often become hot topics when there’s an international football tournament going on.
Euro 2024 opened in June to a bitter racism row when a German broadcaster published the results of a survey saying that one in five respondents would prefer to have more white players in the national team.
The poll of 1,304 randomly selected participants was commissioned for ARD’s documentary “Unity and Justice and Diversity”.
Germany’s midfielder Joshua Kimmich slammed the results “as absolute nonsense.”
“Football, in particular, is a good example of how you can unite different nations, different skin colours and different religions,” he said.
“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 changing room.”
