N’Golo Kanté, the midfielder the world knows for his feat with Leicester City and for lifting the World Cup with France in 2018, almost had a completely different story.
According to his former teammate Jamie Vardy, Kanté almost played for Mali: “At first, he did not even want to play for France. He wanted to represent Mali in honor of his father”.
But fate got there first: France called him before Mali could, and that phone call ended up rewriting the career of one of the most beloved midfielders in world football.
Today, Kanté is synonymous with humility and quiet hard work. But few knew that, in another timeline, he could have worn Mali’s colors out of love for his father.