Players born outside the country they played for

Football has always been a global game, a fact that's perhaps no better exemplified than through the increasingly diasporic nature of its international level.

Nowadays, it's rare to find a national team squad comprised entirely of players born in that country.

There's a great big footballing world out there, as reinforced by each of the following cases...

Saman Ghoddos could have represented Sweden – where he was born – or Iran – where his parents hail from – in international football.

And, in fact, the versatile attacking midfielder ended up featuring for both – but, as he’d only played two friendlies for Sweden, he was allowed to switch his allegiance to Iran, for whom he moved past 50 caps in 2024.

Born in Queensland, Australia, Lyndon Dykes ended up making more than 100 appearances for clubs in Scotland – from where his parents emigrated Down Under – and England: rather aptly, Queen of the South and Queens Park Rangers.

Having played for his birth country at schoolboy level, the striker ultimately opted for Scotland, making his senior debut in 2020.

One of the few European Championship winners born outside Europe, Greek striker Dimitrios Papadopoulos spent the early years of his life in Uzbekistan.

Capped 22 times by Greece in all, he assisted the goal which sent his side through to the knockout stages of Euro 2004 – where they famously sprung perhaps the greatest shock in tournament history by going all the way.

Up there with Senegal’s best ever players and one of the top centre-backs in European football in his prime, Kalidou Koulibaly was born in the Vosges region of France to Senegalese parents.

The former Napoli and Chelsea man featured 11 times for the French U20 team but ultimately chose to play for Senegal at senior level, captaining them to 2021 Africa Cup of Nations victory.

Taulant Xhaka was, like his younger brother Granit, born in Switzerland to Kosovar-Albanian parents who had fled to escape the war in their homeland.

However, unlike little bro, he didn’t opt to represent Switzerland at international level, instead earning 31 caps for Albania – with whom he faced fellow midfielder Granit in the respective nations’ opening game of Euro 2016.

Called up by successive England managers, Sam Allardyce and Gareth Southgate, in 2016 and 2017, Michail Antonio likely would have made his Three Lions debut if not for injury.

As it was, the popular West Ham frontman had to wait until 2021 to get his first taste of international football – by which time he had been approached by, and agreed to play for, Jamaica, where both of his parents were born.

Of Polish descent through his mother, Matty Cash was eligible to play international football for either England or Poland.

In 2021, the right-back – who grew up in Buckinghamshire and came through the ranks at Nottingham Forest before joining Aston Villa – got his Polish passport, allowing him to make his debut in a 2022 World Cup qualifier against Andorra.

When your dad is your nation’s greatest player of all time, you probably want to at least try and follow in his footsteps by playing for the same country.

Son of the iconic Gheorghe Hagi, Ianis Hagi was born in Istanbul during his father’s successful spell as a Galatasaray player – but the attacking midfielder progressed through the various age-group levels to make his full Romania debut in 2018, going on to feature at Euro 2024.

Another current player with a very famous footballing father, Marcus Thuram is the son of World Cup- and Euros-winning France legend Lilian.

Born in Italy while his dad was starring for Parma, the pacey forward moved past the 20-cap mark for Les Bleus at Euro 2024 – where he made four appearances en route to the semi-finals.

Still playing international football past his 41st birthday, the extraordinarily enduring Pepe grew up in Brazil but decided to represent Portugal – where he spent the formative years of his career.

A key member of the Portuguese side which won the country’s first major trophy at Euro 2016, the legendary former Real Madrid centre-back is among his adopted nation’s most-capped players.

Marc Guehi was just a year old when his family left their native Ivory Coast for London, and the defender went from England U16s to the senior team in the space of six years.

The Three Lions’ standout performer en route to the final of Euro 2024 – his maiden major tournament – Guehi previously won the 2017 U17 World Cup.

Scorer of the extra-time goal which clinched Euro 2016 glory for Portugal, forward Eder was born in the former Portuguese colony of Guinea-Bissau.

The ex-Lille and Swansea player moved to Portugal as a child and earned 25 caps in total, finding the net five times and also featuring at the 2014 World Cup.

Garang Kuol grew up in Victoria, Australia but was born in an Egyptian refugee camp, after his parents had fled war-torn South Sudan.

Introduced to football by one of his brothers, the forward represented the Socceroos at U20 and U23 level before earning his first senior cap at the age of 18 in 2022 and going to that year’s World Cup.

The son of Liberians who had fled civil war in their country, Canada’s superstar left-back Alphonso Davies was born in a Ghanaian refugee camp in November 2000.

His family eventually settled in Canada, the Davies lived until 2018 – when he left for Bayern Munich, having already won multiple caps for the Canadian national team while plying his club trade for the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Diego Costa could easily have played international football for Brazil, the country of his birth – he represented them in two friendlies – but it was to be Spain for the notorious striker.

Granted Spanish citizenship in 2013 having played in the country for a number of years, Costa debuted for La Roja in 2014 and scored 10 goals in 24 caps overall.

Thiago Alcantara was eligible to represent Brazil or Spain, with his parents hailing from the former and him having grown up in the latter.

But the ex-Liverpool and Bayern Munich midfielder – who earned 46 caps for La Roja – wasn’t born in either country: he was born in Italy, where his father – former Brazilian international Mazinho – was playing for Lecce at the time.

He’s one of Croatia’s best players of all time, but Ivan Rakitic spent his childhood in Switzerland – where his parents had fled in the lead-up to the Balkan conflicts which devastated the region during the 90s.

A Swiss international up to U21 level, the ex-Barcelona and Sevilla playmaker earned his first of 106 Croatia caps in 2007 and starred in their run to the 2018 World Cup final.

John Barnes was one of England’s finest players of the 80s and early 90s – but the dazzling winger, who was born in Jamaica, could just as easily have played for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

At the time of his international debut in 1983, FIFA rules allowed British passport holders to represent any one of the home nations if they had no blood ties, and Barnes – who briefly managed Jamaica – admitted that “the only reason I played for England was because they were the first to ask”.

Unquestionably an all-time great of the French game, Patrick Vieira spent the early years of his life more than 2,000 miles away in Senegal.

The legendary former Arsenal midfielder and captain’s family emigrated to France when he was eight, and he went on to amass 107 caps Les Bleus – starring in their 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 successes.

Another France hero from the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, and one of the finest defenders in history, Marcel Desailly was born in Accra, the capital of Ghana.

Living in France from the age of four, however, he was always likely to play for Les Bleus – and he did just that on 116 occasions.

Gonzalo Higuain scored 31 goals in 75 caps for Argentina, but what you might not know is that he could have turned out for France instead.

Born in the country during his father Jorge’s playing days at Brest, the former Real Madrid, Napoli and Juventus frontman became just the third foreign-born player to represent Argentina at the World Cup – doing so for the first time in 2010.

Boateng brothers Jerome and Kevin-Prince were both born in Germany – and while the former won the 2014 World Cup with the German national team, the latter chose to represent his mother’s birthland of Ghana.

A Germany youth international, the midfielder only earned 15 caps for the Black Stars – but he helped them to the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup, playing against his brother en route.

Just the second player to earn a senior cap for England without having played in English domestic football (after Joe Baker way back in 1959), Owen Hargreaves was born in Canada and made his professional debut in Germany for Bayern Munich.

With a Welsh mother and an English father, Hargreaves could also have represented Wales – and indeed he did at U19 level – but the midfielder ultimately opted for England, winning 42 caps and scooping the Three Lions’ Player of the Year award in 2006.

Erling Haaland could have played for England – and we’re probably going to be reminded of that for years to come, as he inevitably sets a new goalscoring record for Norway.

Born in Leeds while father Alfie was playing for Leeds United, the scarily prolific striker always had his heart set on representing the Norwegian national team.

Born in 2002, two years after Erling Haaland and slightly further into the north of England, USA international Gio Reyna’s hometown is… Sunderland.

That’s where the attacking midfielder’s father Claudio – who earned 112 caps for the States (Gio’s mother Danielle also represented them on six occasions) – was playing at the time.

Easily Gabon’s greatest player of all time, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the African nation’s record goalscorer by a reasonable distance.

The ex-Arsenal, Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund forward was born in France and could also have played for Spain – through his mother – or Italy; he ended up going for Gabon, though, following in his father’s footsteps by captaining them.

A key player as Italy claimed victory at Euro 2020, Jorginho is every bit the Italian footballer, a supreme regista setting the tempo in midfield.

The former Chelsea and Napoli technician wasn’t born in the land of calcio , however, moving there aged 15 from Brazil – where he was born to a father of Italian ancestry.

Another major trophy-winning Italian international hailing from South America, Argentine-born Mauro Camoranesi starred in the Azzurri’s 2006 World Cup triumph.

A technically gifted wide player, Camoranesi – who won the 2002/03 Serie A title with Juventus – qualified for Italy through his great-grandfather Luigi, who had emigrated to Argentina in the 19th century.

The Netherlands have had a fair few international stars who were born in Suriname, a one-time Dutch colony, but Clarence Seedorf is the most prominent of them.

A world-class midfielder who won the Champions League with three clubs (Ajax, Real Madrid and Milan – bank that knowledge for the pub quiz), Seedorf was born in the Surinamese capital of Paramaribo in 1976, the year after the South American state gained independence.

In one of the more random changes of international allegiance, Mario Fernandes won a single cap for his native Brazil before switching to Russia.

The right-back had been playing in the country for CSKA Moscow for five years when he debuted for the national team in 2017, and he went on to feature prominently in their home World Cup campaign of 2018, earning 33 caps in all.

The only England international born in South America, Cyrille Regis hailed from the French overseas department of French Guiana.

Having moved to England with his family at the age of four, the legendary West Brom and Coventry City striker represented the Three Lions’ U21 and B teams before winning five senior caps between 1982 and 1987.

Germany great Miroslav Klose is the all-time leading scorer in World Cup history, finding the net 16 times over four editions of the tournament and winning it in 2014.

But the clinical, acrobatically celebrating centre-forward might not have played for Germany at all: he was born in Poland and once turned down an approach from their football federation – later admitting that it wasn’t an easy decision to pick his adopted country instead.