Man City star Kevin De Bruyne could have played at AFCON tournament as Belgium captain's mother was actually born in Burundi

Kevin De Bruyne's mother Anna was born in East African country BurundiBurundi qualified for the AFCON for the first time in their history in 2019Young Man United fans are singing songs about players who weren't even playing in their lifetime. Some of them have no heroes. It's damning - It's All Kicking Off

Kevin De Bruyne’s name is synonymous with the Belgian national team but the Man City man could have been a part of an AFCON tournament had things played out differently.

De Bruyne was born in Dronen, Belgium and has made almost 100 appearances for his country.

He helped the Red Devils finish third at the 2018 World Cup and received the captain’s armband in 2023 following the retirement of Eden Hazard.

However, there was another country he was eligible to play for in his younger years.

The 32-year-old’s mother Anna was born in Burundi in East Africa, meaning De Bruyne could have chosen to play for them.

Kevin De Bruyne could have played for African nation Burundi had things been different

Burundi qualified for the AFCON for the first time in their history in 2019 and are currently ranked 139th in the world.

They lost all three of their matches and failed to qualify for this year’s tournament.

De Bruyne spent all of this season on the sidelines due to injury but made his highly-anticipated return in Sunday’s 5-0 FA Cup third round win over Huddersfield,

He came off the bench and assisted a goal and is now in line to start Sunday’s big Premier League clash at Newcastle.

‘Yes [he may start at Newcastle],’ Guardiola said in his press conference on Friday.

‘From what I saw yesterday, I feel good about it. He got some good minutes in training.

‘He is getting better now, he will have a few days off after this game and can train in Abu Dhabi to be good for the next few months.’