Categories: Football

12 players who do not play for the national team of the country in which they were born

Jorginho (Brazil)

The midfielder was born in Santa Catarina, Brazil, but has an Italian passport and has played for the Italian national team since he started in the lower categories in 2012.

Photo:
MARCO BERTORELLO
AFP

Updated to:

Gonzalo Higuaín (France)

He was born in France but has always defended the shirt of Argentina, the country where he grew up.

Photo:
MARTIN BERNETTI
AFP

Updated to:

Hakim Ziyech (Netherlands)

The midfielder was born in Flevoland, the Netherlands, where he has developed a large part of his sports career, but despite having played in the lower categories of the Netherlands team, in 2015 he chose to play for the Moroccan team, the country of birth of his parents.

Photo:
SUHAIB SALEM
REUTERS

Updated to:

Thiago Alcántara (Italy)

The midfielder was born in Italy, he is a Spanish-Brazilian footballer but decided to choose the Spanish team.

Photo:
Angel Martinez
Getty Images

Updated to:

Ivan Rakitic (Switzerland)

He was born in Switzerland, although at first he participated with the Swiss lower categories, but ended up leaning towards Croatia, in 2020 he decided to withdraw from the Croatian team.

Photo:
VI-Images
Getty Images

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Riyad Mahrez (France)

The winger was born in Sarcelles, France, but opted for the national team of his parents, Algeria, with which he debuted in 2014.

Photo:
JAVIER SORIANO
AFP

Updated to:

Sergej Milinkovic (Spain)

He was born and raised in Lleida, Spain, but has always played for Serbia from the lower ranks.

Photo:
MICHAEL BRADLEY
AFP

Updated to:

Erling Haaland (England)

The forward was born in Leeds, England, but chose to play for his father's country of Norway.

Photo:
NTB
via REUTERS

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Kalidou Koulibaly (France)

The central defender was born in Vosges, France and was under-20 with the France team, but did not receive the call from the senior team and in 2015 he was called up by the Senegal team.

Photo:
SUHAIB SALEM
REUTERS

Updated to:

Raheem Sterling (Jamaica)

The forward was born in Jamaica, but opted for the English national team.

Photo:
CARL RECINE
Reuters

Updated to:

Aubameyang (France)

The forward was born in Laval, France, but opted for the country where his father was born, Gabon.

Photo:
MIKE HUTCHINGS
REUTERS

Updated to:

Joel Matip (Germany)

The defender was born in Bochum, Germany, but decided to represent Cameroon, his father's country.

Photo:
Joe giddens
Getty Images

Updated to:

Gabby Barker

Gabby is someone who is interested in all types of sports, she loves to attend watching matches live. Whenever there is a match being played in her city, she makes sure to get the tickets in advance. Due to the love for sports, she joined Sportsfinding, and started writing general sports news. Apart from writing the news, she is also the editor for the website who checks and edits every news content before they go live.

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