South African comedian Trevor Noah has defended himself after being criticised by the French Ambassador to the US for saying "Africa won the World Cup".

The Daily Show host made the comments on his satirical show a day after France beat Croatia to win football's most coveted prize on Sunday.

Fourteen of France's 23-man squad would be eligible to play for African nations.

French politician Stéphane Tiki, who was born in Cameroon, disagrees with Noah, telling BBC Newsday the players are French first and foremost.

Trevor Noah has said his statement should be put in context: "When I am saying, 'They are African', I am not saying it as a way to exclude them from their Frenchness, but using it as a way to include them in my Africanness."

To deny that duality was something he "vehemently" disagreed with.