How De Bruyne almost played AFCON with Burundi

Manchester City and Belgian star player Kevin De Bruyne almost played the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with The Swallows of Burundi.

De Bruyne was born in Drongen Belgium, Belgium to Mr Herwig De Bruyne and Mrs Anna De Bruyne and started playing football at a young age.

De Bruyne started playing football in Drongen at the early of four years in his town where he lived with his parents.

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

For the first time in its history, Burundi made it to the 2019 AFCON, although they lost all three of their games and were unable to secure a ticket for the 2023 AFCON.

De Bruyne, an attacking midfielder, was eligible to represent both Belgium and the Burundi national team.

With his roots in Africa, the Manchester City Man was eligible to play for his mother’s place of birth in Burundi during his early years before moving to Europe and could have featured for the Swallows in the 2019 AFCON.

But De Bruyne opted to play for Belgium where he made his debut for the Belgian senior team in 2010 in an international friendly against Finland before making his full debut for Belgium’s senior side.

De Bruyne became a regular member of Belgium’s team during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, where he scored four goals as the Red Devils qualified for their first major tournament in 12 years.

De Bruyne’s family were also used to visiting Africa, where his mother Anna De Bruyne spent her early years.

De Bruyne spent most of his holidays in Burundi and Ivory Coast, where his family’s oil company branches were situated.

The Belgian international has risen to become a prolific player both for Belgium and Premier League side Man City.