‘Dion has a two percent chance’
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Junior Dion is enjoying the best returns of his career at Golden Arrows without any chance of consideration back home.
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‘Dion has a two percent chance’
Sep 29, 2026 – 03:43 pm
By Lovemore Moyo
With the latest FIFA dates in full swing, the situation facing Junior Dion’s international possibilities has been explained.
Dion has turned his fortunes for the better since joining Golden Arrows at the beginning of last season.
He was the league’s top scorer last season with 15 and has carried the scoring responsibility into the 2026/27 campaign with four goals to his name.
Though he is Ivorian, the 27-year-old was called up by Chad last year after his acquiring documentation which made him eligible.
Following several deliberations he eventually didn’t honour that call-up keeping him eligible for The Elephants.
“The reality about Cote d’Ivoire is that Dion only has a two percent chance of playing for the national team while he is with a club in Africa,” says fellow Ivorian Brice Aka who played in the PSL during his heydays and faced similar challenges.
The current Elephants attack is led by Yan Diomande of Real Madrid and has players from top league clubs in England, Italy, and France.
“Infield players stand no chance of playing for the national team while playing for a club in Africa.
“The only players that can break into the senior team while still playing in Africa are goalkeepers.
“In Cote d’Ivoire they only believe in Europe and so they will not even look at him (Dion).
“Even if they call him, fans will ask about who he is?
“But then at times I ask myself while there seems to be less confidence on players in Africa when Bafana went to the World Cup with local based players and did better than players in Europe.
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“South Africa is a good league that can feed West African national teams if given the respect it deserves.
“Right now, Dion has more appetite than some players with European teams.
“But then it is difficult to convince Ivorians that a good player from Cote d’Ivoire can play in the PSL,” says Aka.