"Officially, Africa's involvement in the World Cup ended in Samara on June 28, when Senegal were eliminated by Colombia. But in the eyes of football fans from across the continent, there is still one African team left in the tournament. And they face Croatia in the final on Sunday.
"There are at least 15 players with African roots in the France squad, and their lineages stem from all over Africa.
"Samuel Umtiti was born in Cameroon, Steve Mandanda in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Paul Pogba's parents are from Guinea, N'Golo Kante's from Mali. Blaise Matuidi's parents are from Angola and came to France via DR Congo. Kylian Mbappe has an Algerian mother and a Cameroonian father. Presnel Kimpembe and Steven Nzonzi's fathers are Congolese. Corentin Tolisso's dad is from Togo. The list goes on.
"They are associations the players wear proudly. After France's scintillating 4-3 victory over Argentina in the last 16, Kimpembe posted a video on Instagram that showed the team's players—among them Pogba, Benjamin Mendy and Antoine Griezmann—dancing to the song "Seka Seka" by Congolese artist DJ Marechal on the plane taking them back to their base camp in Istra. One Twitter user commented that it could have been filmed on a bus destined for the Malian capital Bamako.
"African music has been playing in the background throughout France's World Cup journey, even extending to the stadiums. The song played each time France score a goal is "Magic in the Air" by Ivorian group Magic System, which was chosen as the team's official fan song prior to the tournament by the French Football Federation.
"The four-piece group performed for the French squad (and coach Didier Deschamps) at Clairefontaine ahead of their departure to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup, and "Magic in the Air" has been their theme song ever since.
"France's African connections have earned them the tag of Africa's "sixth team" at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and they have an even broader appeal than the five African sides—Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia—who featured at the tournament.
"In the eyes of many African football fans, France are not just a team full of players of African heritage. They are somethi