FIFA 2026 Diaspora Trivia Quiz

Appointed captain of the Canadian national team in 2024, Alphonso Davies was born to Liberian parents in a Ghanian refugee camp during 2000. Until he was granted Canadian citizenship in 2017, he was only qualified to play for the Liberian national team. At the time of the World Cup, he was playing for the Bundesliga club Bayern Munich, having joined them in 2019.

Born in the Netherlands to a Dutch mother and a Surinamese-American father, Sergiño Dest became naturalised as a U.S. citizen and started playing international soccer for the U.S. in 2016. His senior career began with Jong Ajax in the Netherlands in 2018.

A move followed to Barcelona in 2020. At the time of the 2026 World Cup, he was playing with PSV on a free transfer. Has often played in the full-back position.

Nico Paz played for Argentina. He was born in Tenerife, Spain to a Spanish mother and an Argentine father. His father, the former Argentine international Pablo Paz, played as a central defender at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. Nico was playing as attacking midfielder for the Italian club Como at the time of the 2026 World Cup.

His initial development was within Spain and his senior debut was with Real Madrid Castilla.

Erling Haaland was born in Leeds, England in 2000 when his father Alf-Inge (Alfie) Haaland was playing for Leeds United. Alfie also played for the Norwegian national team, earning 34 caps. Before the 2026 World Cup, Erling had achieved 55 international goals in 48 senior national appearances, making him one of Norway's most valuable players.

His career has seen him spend time with clubs in Norway, Germany and England, amongst others.

Breel Embollo gained Swiss citizenship in 2014 and at the same time gave up his citizenship of Cameroon. It was however in the capital of Cameroon, namely Yaoundé, that he was born in 1997. His parents separated when he was young and he moved with his mother to France and then to Switzerland where he was naturalised. Playing with various European clubs, he was with the French club Rennes immediately before the 2026 World Cup.

The 2026 World Cup was not his first taste of World Cup football, having played for Switzerland in qualifying rounds of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups as well.

Swiss-born Diogo Costa was playing for the Portuguese national team as goalkeeper at the 2026 World Cup. He was born to Portuguese emigrant parents in a small Swiss village in 1999. The family moved back to Portugal when he was aged 7 where he began his football journey at the local academy, AMCH Ringe.

International appearances started with the Portugal U15 team, progressing through each age group to the senior national team by 2021. At the time of the 2026 World Cup, he was captain and goalkeeper of the club Porto.

Born in 1997 in London, England of Congolese descent, Aaron Wan-Bissaka learned his footballing skill in England at such clubs as Crystal Palace. His first international appearance was for the DR Congo U20s in 2015, losing 8-0 to the England U17s in a friendly.

He was then called up to the England U20 and U21 squads. A change of direction followed in 2025 when his request to switch national allegiance to DR Congo was approved. At the time of the 2026 World Cup, he was primarily a defensively-minded right-back for the club West Ham United.

Mateo Kovačić's Bosnian Croat parents fled the Bosnian War (1992-95) to Austria as refugees where he was born in 1994. His family wished to support his passion for football and enrolled him in a LASK youth programme in Linz. The family's move back to Croatia, where he joined the Dinamo Zagreb youth academy, was with Mateo's development in mind.

He chose to support his heritage and played for Croatia in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and again at the 2026 World Cup. At the time of the 2026 tournament, he was playing central midfielder for Manchester City.

Aymeric Laporte was born at Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, France in 1994. His Spanish heritage came from his great-grandparents who were Basque. He was granted Spanish citizenship in 2021 which allowed him to switch allegiance from France to Spain. His early development was in France before he was scouted by Athletic Bilbao, joining them in 2010. He normally played left-side centre-back.

One of the 2026 World Cup statistics was that there were 99 French-born players in the tournament of which 76 played for other nations. France itself had three foreign-born players - one each from England, Italy and the Republic of Congo.

Spanish-born to Moroccan parents, Achraf Hakimi was captain of the Morocco national team at the 2026 World Cup. The playing position most identified with him was right-back. His football journey began at the age 8 with CD Colonia Ofigevi (since dissolved due to player debt) before moving to Real Madrid's youth academy.

His club at the time of the 2026 World Cup was French club Paris Saint-Germain.