As the France-Senegal match approached, a single statement by Ousmane Sonko reignited a long-standing debate that many had assumed belonged to the fringes of identity politics. The President of Senegal’s National Assembly remarked, ‘Regardless of who wins, it will be Africa defeating Africa.’ His words, though intended as a unifying panafricanist gesture, revived an old and contentious narrative: one that frames Black players in the French team not as French citizens, but as Africans first.