Portrait : Issa Diop, un petit-fils du Cayor devenu « soldat » des Lions de l’Atlas
There are legacies that time never dissolves. Even with "Issa" emblazoned on a foreign jersey, the central defender will never break the genealogical baobab tree that saw his ancestors born in Senegal. After his parents' divorce and a childhood spent in France, he long favored "Marianne" (the French national team), to the detriment of "Koc Barma" (the French national team). But after many years spent waiting for a place with Les Bleus (the French national team), Issa Diop (29 years old) finally donned the Moroccan jersey, which he now fiercely defends at the 2026 World Cup. Beneath the armor of the Kingdom of Morocco, however, flows a Senegalese blood that had remained hidden in the shadows, and which now resurfaces in the light.
The son of a Senegalese man, raised in Toulouse
It all started with a grandfather: Lybasse Diop. A former Senegalese professional player who notably played for Girondins de Bordeaux, it was through him that this name, so common in Senegal, became permanently established in French football in the 1970s.
Born in Toulouse to a father of Senegalese origin and a mother of Moroccan origin (a psychiatric nurse), Issa Diop grew up in the Pink City. Between the local club SC Balma and the Toulouse FC training center which he joined at the age of nine, the giant was built, unknowingly carrying a triple heritage: French by birth, Moroccan through his mother, and deeply Senegalese through his father and grandfather.
Senegal's refusal and the shattered blue dream
For years, Diop's choice was completely inflexible. Courted insistently by the former staff of the Lions of Teranga in 2017 when he was exploding at West Ham, the player politely but firmly declined the invitation from his father's country.
For him, choosing a national team other than France was hypocritical: "I was born in France, I am French, I owe everything to France, it's my country," he confided at the time. But the doors to the French national team remained permanently closed, forcing the player to reconsider his international future as he approached thirty.
A twist of fate at the 2026 World Cup
The story took an unexpected turn in March 2026 when the defender officially answered the call of Morocco, his mother's country. But the most powerful symbol of this journey will undoubtedly remain his memorable performance at the Estadio BBVA in Guadalupe, Mexico, during the round of 32 of that World Cup.
Just a few months after an intense sporting rivalry between Morocco and Senegal during the last AFCON, this player with Senegalese roots scored the crucial equalizing goal, giving the Atlas Lions their qualification for the next round.
Having become, for one evening, the face of Moroccan resilience, Issa Diop alone sums up the fruitful complexity of footballers from the African diaspora: Senegalese blood passed down through two generations, a heart long associated with the French flag, and a Moroccan jersey finally honored with the memory of a grandfather who came from Dakar.
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