List of foreign Premier League players

This is a list of foreign players in the Premier League, which commenced play in 1992. The following players must meet both of the following two criteria:

  1. Have played at least one Premier League game. Players who were signed by Premier League clubs, but only played in a lower league, cup, and/or European games, or did not play in any competitive games at all, are not included.
  2. Are considered foreign, i.e., outside the United Kingdom determined by the following:
A player is considered foreign if his allegiance is not to play for the national teams of England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

More specifically,

  • If a player has been capped at an international level, the national team is used; if he has been capped by more than one country, the highest level (or the most recent) team is used. These include British players with dual citizenship.
  • If a player has not been capped at the international level, his country of birth is used, except for those who were born abroad from British parents or moved to the United Kingdom at a young age, and those who clearly indicated to have switched his nationality to another nation.

Clubs listed are those for which the player has played at least one Premier League game – and seasons are those in which the player has played at least one Premier League game. Note that seasons, not calendar years, are used. For example, "1992–95" indicates that the player has played in every season from 1992–93 to 1994–95, but not necessarily every calendar year from 1992 to 1995. Therefore, a player should always have a listing under at least two years – for instance, a player making his debut in 2011, during the 2011–12 season, will have '2011–12' after his name. This follows the general practice in expressing sporting seasons in the UK.

116 of the 207 foreign FIFA-affiliated nations have been represented in the Premier League. On 23 March 2024, the Dominican Republic became the most recent country to be represented, when Junior Firpo was called up and played for the Dominican Republic.

In bold: players who have played at least one Premier League game in the current season (2023–24), and are still at a club for which they have played. This does not include current players of a Premier League club who have not played a Premier League game in the current season.

For each country, the leading appearance-maker is indicated by the number of matches that he played in the Premier League.[1]

Details correct as of 19 May 2024

Africa (CAF)

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Algeria  

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Riyad Mahrez was voted PFA Player of the Year after helping Leicester win the title in 2016

Angola  

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Benin  

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Burkina Faso  

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Burundi  

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Cameroon  

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Geremi won two consecutive Premier League titles with Chelsea

Cape Verde  

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Central African Republic  

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Congo  

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DR Congo  

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Egypt  

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In 2017–18, Mohamed Salah won the PFA Players' Player of the Year and was the top scorer with a record breaking 32 goals

Equatorial Guinea  

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Gabon  

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the joint-top goalscorer in the Premier League in 2018–19, scoring 22 goals for Arsenal

Gambia  

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Ghana  

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Michael Essien won the Premier League twice with Chelsea

Guinea  

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Guinea-Bissau  

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Ivory Coast  

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Didier Drogba scored 104 Premier League goals and won four league titles with Chelsea

Kenya  

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Liberia  

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Mauritania  

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Morocco  

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Nigeria  

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Mikel John Obi won two Premier League titles for Chelsea

Senegal  

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Sadio Mané scored the quickest Premier League hat-trick, netting three goals in 176 seconds

Seychelles  

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Sierra Leone  

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South Africa  

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Tanzania  

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Tunisia  

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Zambia  

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Zimbabwe  

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Asia (AFC)

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Australia  

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Mark Schwarzer is the only player from outside the United Kingdom to play over 500 Premier League matches

China PR  

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Sun Jihai is the first East Asian to score a Premier League goal when he scored for Manchester City in 2002

Indonesia  

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Japan  

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Shinji Kagawa won a Premier League title with Manchester United in 2013
 
Shinji Okazaki won the Premier League with Leicester City in 2016

Korea Republic  

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Park Ji-Sung won four Premier League titles with Manchester United in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011
 
Son Heung-min became the first Asian to reach 100 Premier League goals in 2023 with Tottenham Hotspur

Pakistan  

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Philippines  

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Europe (UEFA)

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Albania  

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Armenia  

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Austria  

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Belarus  

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Belgium  

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Vincent Kompany captained Manchester City to win the Premier League title in 2012, earning him the accolade of Player of the Season
 
Eden Hazard was voted the Player of the Season after helping Chelsea to the Premier League title in 2015
 
Kevin De Bruyne has won five Premier League titles with Manchester City, and was named Player of the Season twice

Bosnia and Herzegovina  

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Bulgaria  

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Dimitar Berbatov won two Premier League titles with Manchester United, and was the league's top scorer in 2010–11

Croatia  

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Cyprus  

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Czech Republic  

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Petr Čech won four Premier League titles with Chelsea and holds the most Premier League clean sheets

Denmark  

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Peter Schmeichel won five Premier League titles with Manchester United and is the only goalkeeper to be voted Player of the Season

Estonia  

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Faroe Islands  

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Finland  

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France  

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With 175 goals, all for Arsenal, Thierry Henry is the second highest-scoring foreign player in Premier League history
 
Nicolas Anelka won the Premier League at Arsenal and Chelsea
 
Eric Cantona captained Manchester United
 
Patrice Evra won the Premier League five times with Manchester United

Georgia  

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Germany  

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Jens Lehmann, goalkeeper for Arsenal during their undefeated season in 2003–04
 
İlkay Gündoğan won five Premier League titles with Manchester City

Gibraltar  

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Greece  

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Hungary  

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Iceland  

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Israel  

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Italy  

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Mario Balotelli is the only Italian to win the Premier League, doing so with Manchester City in 2012

Kosovo  

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Latvia  

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Lithuania  

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Malta  

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Montenegro  

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Netherlands  

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Edwin van der Sar is the holder of the record for the longest Premier League clean sheet streak, while playing for Manchester United
 
Robin van Persie was Premier League top scorer in two consecutive seasons for two different clubs – Arsenal and Manchester United
 
Ruud van Nistelrooy was the top scorer and Player of the Season in 2002–03

North Macedonia  

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Norway  

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Ole Gunnar Solskjær won six Premier League titles for Manchester United, a record for a player from outside the British Isles
 
Erling Haaland scored a Premier League record 36 goals for Manchester City in the 2022–23 season

Poland  

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Wojciech Szczęsny played over 100 Premier League matches for Arsenal, and kept the most clean sheets in the 2013–14 season

Portugal  

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Cristiano Ronaldo won a hat-trick of Premier League titles with Manchester United, was twice voted Player of the Season and is the only player to win the FIFA World Player of the Year while playing in the Premier League
 
Ricardo Carvalho won three Premier League titles with Chelsea

Republic of Ireland  

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Roy Keane won seven Premier League titles with Manchester United, including four as captain
 
Robbie Keane played for six different Premier League clubs and scored a total of 126 goals
 
Shay Given kept a total of 113 Premier League clean sheets

Romania  

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Dan Petrescu was selected as the right defender of the Premier League 10 Seasons Awards Overseas team

Russia  

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Andrey Arshavin became the first player in Premier League history to score four goals in an away game at Anfield

Serbia  

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Nemanja Vidić won five Premier League titles for Manchester United and was voted Player of the Season twice

Slovakia  

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Slovenia  

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Spain  

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Fernando Torres was signed by Chelsea from Liverpool in 2011 for £50 million, then the most ever paid by a Premier League club
 
Cesc Fàbregas recorded 111 Premier League assists, the second most ever by a non-British player, and won two league titles with Chelsea
 
Pepe Reina of Liverpool had the most Premier League clean sheets in three consecutive seasons

Sweden  

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Freddie Ljungberg won two Premier League titles with Arsenal and was named Player of the Season in 2002

Switzerland  

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Turkey  

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Ukraine  

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North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF)

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Antigua and Barbuda  

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Barbados  

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Bermuda  

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Canada  

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Costa Rica  

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Curaçao  

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Dominican Republic  

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Grenada  

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Guatemala  

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Guyana  

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Honduras  

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Jamaica  

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Wes Morgan captained Leicester's title-winning team in 2016

Mexico  

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Javier Hernández won the Premier League twice with Manchester United

Montserrat  

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Saint Kitts and Nevis  

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Suriname  

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Trinidad and Tobago  

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Dwight Yorke scored 123 Premier League goals, a record for a player from North America

United States  

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Brad Friedel appeared in a record 310 consecutive Premier League matches during spells at Blackburn, Aston Villa, and Tottenham

Oceania (OFC)

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New Zealand  

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Chris Wood has made over 200 Premier League appearances and played for five different clubs

South America (CONMEBOL)

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Argentina  

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Carlos Tevez won the Premier League at Manchester United and Manchester City
 
Sergio Agüero won five Premier League titles with Manchester City, and is the highest scoring foreign player in Premier League history

Bolivia  

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Brazil  

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Edu was a member of the Arsenal "Invincibles" team which won the Premier League in 2004
 
Anderson won four Premier League titles with Manchester United
 
Roberto Firmino is the highest-scoring Brazilian in Premier League history, and won a title with Liverpool

Chile  

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Alexis Sánchez scored 60 Premier League goals for Arsenal

Colombia  

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Ecuador  

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Antonio Valencia won the Premier League twice with Manchester United

Paraguay  

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Uruguay  

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Luis Suárez was the top scorer in the 2013–14 Premier League, with a then record-equalling 31 goals

Venezuela  

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Notes

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  1. ^
    Born in Algeria
  2. ^
    Born in Angola (then Portuguese Angola)
  3. ^
    Born in Argentina
  4. ^
    Born in Australia
  5. ^
    Born in Austria
  6. ^
    Born in Burundi
  7. ^
    Born in Belgium
  8. ^
    Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of Yugoslavia)
  9. ^
    Born in Brazil
  10. ^
  11. ^
    Born in Canada
  12. ^
    Born in Cameroon
  13. ^
    Born in Cape Verde
  14. ^
    Born in Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia)
  15. ^
  16. ^
    Born in Denmark
  17. ^
  18. ^
  19. ^
    Born in England
  20. ^
    Born in France
  21. ^
  22. ^
    Born in The Gambia
  23. ^
    Born in West Germany (now part of Germany)
  24. ^
  25. ^
    Born in Germany
  26. ^
    Born in Ghana
  27. ^
  28. ^
    Born in Greece
  29. ^
  30. ^
  31. ^
    Born in Haiti
  32. ^
    Born in Iraq
  33. ^
    Born in Italy
  34. ^
    Born in the Ivory Coast
  35. ^
    Born in Jamaica
  36. ^
    Born in Kosovo (then part of Yugoslavia)
  37. ^
    Born in Liberia
  38. ^
    Born in Morocco
  39. ^
  40. ^
  41. ^
  42. ^
    Born in the Netherlands
  43. ^
    Born in Nigeria
  44. ^
  45. ^
    Born in North Macedonia (then Macedonia, part of Yugoslavia)
  46. ^
    Born in Poland
  47. ^
    Born in Portugal
  48. ^
  49. ^
    Born in Russia (then part of the Soviet Union)
  50. ^
  51. ^
    Born in South Africa
  52. ^
    Born in Scotland
  53. ^
    Born in Senegal
  54. ^
    Born in Slovakia
  55. ^
    Born in Somalia
  56. ^
    Born in Spain
  57. ^
  58. ^
    Born in Serbia (then part of Yugoslavia)
  59. ^
    Born in Switzerland
  60. ^
    Born in Suriname
  61. ^
    Born in Suriname (then part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands)
  62. ^
    Born in Slovakia (then part of Czechoslovakia)
  63. ^
    Born in Slovenia (then part of Yugoslavia)
  64. ^
    Born in Sweden
  65. ^
    Born in Syria
  66. ^
    Born in Uganda
  67. ^
    Born in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union)
  68. ^
    Born in the United States
  69. ^
    Born in Uzbekistan (then part of the Soviet Union)
  70. ^
  71. ^
  72. ^
  73. ^
  74. ^
  75. ^
  76. ^
  77. ^
  78. ^
  79. ^
  80. ^
  81. ^
  82. ^
  83. ^
  84. ^
  85. ^
  86. ^
  87. ^
  88. ^
  89. ^
  90. ^
  91. ^
  92. ^
  93. ^
  94. ^
  95. ^
  96. ^
  97. ^
  98. ^
  99. ^
  100. ^
  101. ^
  102. ^
  103. ^
  104. ^
  105. ^
  106. ^
  107. ^
  108. ^
  109. ^
  110. ^
  111. ^
  112. ^
  113. ^
  114. ^
  115. ^
  116. ^
  117. ^
  118. ^
  119. ^
  120. ^
  121. ^
  122. ^
  123. ^
  124. ^
  125. ^
  126. ^
    Capped for the Netherlands national under-15 football team
  127. ^
  128. ^
  129. ^
  130. ^
  131. ^
  132. ^
  133. ^
  134. ^
  135. ^
  136. ^
  137. ^
  138. ^
  139. ^
    Capped for the Samoa national under-20 football team (then Western Samoa)
  140. ^
  141. ^
  142. ^
  143. ^
  144. ^
  145. ^
  146. ^
  147. ^
  148. ^
  149. ^
  150. ^
  151. ^
  152. ^
  153. ^
  154. ^
  155. ^
  156. ^
    Kosovo Albanian. Born in Kosovo (then part of Yugoslavia)
  157. ^
    Yugoslavia while active

References

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  1. ^ "Premier League Players Stats". PremierLeague.com. Premier League. Retrieved 3 September 2023.