Who is Alexis Mac Allister, Argentina's Qatar World Cup midfielder with British and Irish family origins?

With a surname like Mac Allister, Argentina's central midfielder Alexis is always likely to catch the eye of British football fans.
By Stuart Rayner
Published 18th Dec 2022, 12:30 BST

Even though he has been a Brighton and Hove Albion player since 2020, one of the emerging stars of this World Cup is Argentinian born – on Christmas Eve 1998 – and bred.

His dad, Carlos, was a three-cap left-back who famously played alongside Diego Maradona for Boca Juniors, but also mixed it with the likes of Gabriel Batistuta and Diego Simeone.

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The Mac Allister family is believed to have Scottish roots in Fife, but Alexis' great-great-grandfather is thought to have emigrated to Argentina from Ireland in 1868.

PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYER: Alexis Mac Allister playing for Brighton and Hove Albion against Leeds United last seasonPREMIER LEAGUE PLAYER: Alexis Mac Allister playing for Brighton and Hove Albion against Leeds United last season
PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYER: Alexis Mac Allister playing for Brighton and Hove Albion against Leeds United last season

It has been claimed the family came from Cushendall in County Antrim, where various spellings of the surname, including the Gaelic version on the back of the 23-year-old's shirt, are still prominent, and that they moved to the village of Donabate, around 10 miles north of Dublin, before heading to South America in the mid-19th Century.

Alexis' older brothers, footballers with Rosario and Argentinos Juniors, have rather more British names – Francis and Kevin.

Football is clearly in the blood, with Carlos' brother having played club football in Argentina, Mexico and Japan.

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Brighton signed Alexis Mac Allister from Argentinos Juniors in 2019 but immediately loaned him back before lending him to Boca later that year.

WORLD CUP FAVOURITE: Alexis Mac Allister has become a key member of the Argentina teamWORLD CUP FAVOURITE: Alexis Mac Allister has become a key member of the Argentina team
WORLD CUP FAVOURITE: Alexis Mac Allister has become a key member of the Argentina team

It was March 2020 when he made his Premier League debut but turning out regularly for Graham Potter's side turned him into a very adaptable attacking midfield player.

When it comes to international football, though, 2022 has been the making of him.

Mac Allister played three times at last year's Olympics but his third senior cap only came in March, three years after his second. It should have been January, but Covid-19 stopped him playing in a World Cup qualifier against Chile.

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Mac Allister started the Qatar World Cup on the sidelines, but given La Albiceleste began with a defeat to Saudi Arabia, that was probably no bad thing.

He came into the XI for the next game, against Mexico, and stayed in ever since.

Related topics:Brighton and Hove AlbionFootball