RABAT, Morocco ¨C Almost 30% of the players competing at this year¡¯s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco were born outside the continent, reflecting the growing reliance many African countries have on players from the diaspora in Europe.

Tiny Comoros, which kicks off the tournament against Morocco in Rabat on Sunday, has all but one of its ?26-man squad born in Europe while the host nation is one of five countries ?with ?the majority of its squad born outside the continent.

Algeria, the Democratic ?Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea are the others with a heavy reliance on players born and raised in Europe to migrant families. Half of the Senegal squad, too, were born in Europe.

In total, of the 664 players across the 24 teams at the tournament, 191 ?were born in Europe, representing 28.8%.

Morocco has players born in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Spain, indicative of diverse communities across Europe, while Algeria¡¯s 16 foreign-born players come mainly from France, ?but it also has players born in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

Both countries have a strong scouting ?system across Europe, actively ?seeking players to add to their senior side plus their ?junior teams.

Equatorial Guinea¡¯s 28-man squad has 19 players all born in the ?former colonial ?power Spain.

The fortunes of the small, central African nation have improved drastically since it began to look for players in Spain with a connection to the country. This is its fifth Africa Cup of Nations appearance in the last eight editions.

Comoros is competing in its second tournament, dipping heavily into the large community based in Marseille, while the Congolese have filled the vast majority of their squad with players from their migrant population in Belgium and France.

Players born in Britain, Italy, Norway, Portugal, ?Switzerland ?and Sweden are also competing at the tournament, while Morocco¡¯s goalkeeper, Yassine Bounou, was born in Canada, and Sudan striker Amar Taifour in the U.S.

African ?countries have benefitted from a change in the FIFA rules on international eligibility some 20 years ago that allowed players who had represented one country at the junior level to switch allegiance if they had dual nationality.

A later change to the eligibility ?rules allowed players with senior caps in non-competitive internationals to change, like Wilfried Zaha, who won two caps for England but is competing for the Ivory Coast at the Cup of Nations in Morocco.

Botswana, Egypt and South Africa are the only countries whose players at the tournament are all homegrown.