Footballers often ask themselves: Where am I really from?

France-born Cameroon footballer Sébastien Bassong. Photo by Dan Farrimond. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

The BBC World Service documentary ‘ Which country should I play for? ‘ tells an interesting story about the French Cameroonian professional footballer Sébastien Bassong.

Bassong, who was born and bred in France, decided to play for the Cameroon national team and explains the agonising decision with a heartwarming anecdote. Upon asking his father which country to play for, he was advised to listen to the national anthems of both and go with the one that stirred his heart. He picked Cameroon.

Bassong’s dilemma goes to the heart of the troubling situation faced by mixed-heritage footballers — which of my two or three countries of affiliation to represent?

This issue has been particularly prominent in 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, where 136 players represented countries other than the ones in which they were born. Quartz crunched the num…