Vardy reveals shocking detail: Kante wanted to represent Mali?!

Have you ever imagined what an alternate history of football would look like if this or that had (not) happened?

Regardless of your answer, here is something worth thinking about: N'Golo Kante was on the verge of representing Mali instead of France at the international level!

This truly shocking detail was revealed by the midfielder's former Leicester City teammate Jamie Vardy in his podcast, Jamie Vardy's Having A Party.

Fake prophet promised AFCON glory to Mali, but got handcuffs instead

The ex-England international claimed Kante - although born in Paris - wanted to honour his paternal roots and represent the Eagles. However, his teammates reportedly convinced him to pledge his allegiance to Les Bleus, a more powerful team capable of challenging for trophies.

“Originally, he didn't even want to play for France. He wanted to represent Mali for his dad."

"Then France called him before Mali did. We were all at the training ground, like 'What are you actually thinking about? They're going to win," Vardy revealed.

Kante went on to make his debut for France in March 2016 and finish as a European Championship runner-up later that year. In 2018, Les Bleus won the World Cup, largely thanks to N'Golo's contribution as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world at that point.

Perhaps everything would have been different had Kante's wish come true. France might have never won their second World Cup title, and Mali might have made their maiden World Cup appearance.

Either way, we'll never know.

What we do know is that Kante recently had a heartbreaking farewell to the national team, as he was one of only four France players who hadn't seen a single minute of action in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, alongside Lucas Hernandez and the two backup goalkeepers, Robin Risser and Brice Samba.