The 10 Best Football Players who Never Represented Their Countries
Photo by Naphtali Marshall on Unsplash.
The goal of every footballer is to win trophies, but being chosen to represent your country and national team is one of the highest honours achievable. For these absurdly talented players the dream never materialised. Here are the best football players who never got to represent their country:
10: Miguel Britos - Uruguay
Central defender Miguel Britos joined the then newly promoted Watford at the start of the 2015/16 season, and has been helping keep Watford in the Premier League since. He is currently halfway through his fourth season in England. He spent the previous seven seasons in Italian Serie A, where he played three seasons for Bologna and four seasons for Napoli. He won the Coppa Italia in 2012 and 2014 for the latter.
While I won't describe Britos as a generational talent, he is a capable centre back who is comfortable with the ball at his feet. He’s also left footed, which should strengthen his claim for a call-up. Unfortunately for Miguel Britos, Uruguay already have plenty of excellent centre backs. To name a few:
Diego Godín, who is a generational talent
José María Giménez, Godín’s partner at Atlético Madrid, and is Godín’s natural heir
Sebastián Coates
Martin Cáceres
Mauricio Lemos
Now 33 and halfway to 34, it looks very unlikely that Miguel Britos will ever feature for Uruguay. Curiously, he also never played for any of Uruguay’s youth teams.
9: Steed Malbranque - France
First, lets take a moment to appreciate what a beautiful name Steed Malbranque is.
Coming through the famed Lyon academy at the end of the 1990s, Steed Malbranque was a French winger or offensive midfield player. He possessed great technique and vision. This, combined with a low centre of gravity and strength, made it very hard to take the ball away from him.
Malbranque made his way to England as a 21 year old in 2001 and remained there for the next decade. He played for Fulham, Tottenham and Sunderland during that time, and won two trophies: the 2002 Intertoto Cup with Fulham and the 2007/08 League Cup with Tottenham. Unfortunately for Steed, Lyon won seven league titles in a row starting with his first season abroad. Ouch.
Because Malbranque was born in Belgium, he thought he might be able to switch his allegiance to Belgium when it seemed clear that he wouldn’t be capped by France. But The Red Devils’ manager shot him down, stating that he wasn’t eligible to play for Belgium. Ultimately, Steed Malbranque represented France in youth teams from the age of 14 to 21, and was called up as member of France’s squad several times, but never made a single appearance.
Fun fact: Malbranque’s last club was MDA Chasselay. They play in France’s fourth tier, and their stadium is Stade Ludovic Giuly, named after the man himself.
8: Stefan Klos - Germany
There are two things Germany is great at making: cars and goalkeepers. Stefan Klos is not a car. Born in Dortmund in 1971, this is also where he would spend the first 8 of his 17 year long professional career. Stefan Klos was Borussia Dortmund’s number 1 from 1990 to 1998, and was their starting goalkeeper when they beat Juventus 3-1 in the 1997 Champions League final.
After playing over 350 games for Dortmund, Klos spent the next nine seasons playing for Rangers. While in Glasgow, Der Goalie would captain the club for three seasons, play 298 games in all competitions, and win an impressive four league titles and five cup trophies. Stefan Klos was inducted into Rangers’ Hall of Fame a mere two years after retiring.
It’s surprising that a player with such an impressive trophy collection couldn’t feature once for his nation. That definitely speaks to the strength of Germany’s goalkeepers. Klos’ career spanned from 1990 to 2007. Here are some of the German goalkeepers Stefan Klos had to compete with:
Bodo Illgner: The first choice goalkeeper when Germany won the 1990 World Cup.
Andreas Köpke: First choice goalkeeper when Germany won the 1996 European Championships, and voted Best European Goalkeeper in 1996.
Oliver Kahn: Germany’s first choice goalkeeper for three major tournaments, and German team captain for four years. Only Sepp Maier (95) has more caps for Germany as a goalkeeper than Kahn’s 86.
Tough luck, Stefan…
7: Dario Hübner - Italy
Il Bisonte di Muggia - the bison from Muggia - was a type of player that is almost extinct. Dario Hübner was the prototypical Italian poacher: a predatory striker who could finish well with both his feet and his head, though his work rate was lacking.
Hübner would score an awful lot of goals throughout his 23 year long career. Beginning his professional career in the late 80s, he found the most success from the middle of the 1990s to the early 2000s. As a new signing for the newly promoted Piacenza, Dario Hübner would become Serie A top scorer with 24 goals in 2002. An incredible feat in its own right, made even more impressive by the fact that Hübner was 35 years old at the time.
6: Paolo Cannavaro - Italy
Paolo was a great defender in his own right although he is best known as Fabio Cannavaro’s little brother. Paolo Cannavaro started his professional career with Napoli, where he only made two appearances before joining his brother at Parma, one of the best clubs in the world at the time.
He’d later go back to Napoli and spend eight seasons there, including seven as the club captain. They won the Coppa Italia in 2012, with Cannavaro often playing alongside Miguel Britos, the number 10 on our list. Cannavaro would later join Sassuolo, where he played his three final seasons. He has since moved into coaching, and is now the assistant manager of Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande, where his brother Fabio is the manager. United again.
Paolo Cannavaro played a total of 30 games for Italian youth teams, and earned exactly one call-up to the Italian national team: he sat on the bench for a friendly against South Africa. In the end, it was Italy’s ability to produce world class defenders that stopped Paolo Cannavaro from featuring for the Azzurri.
5: Thorsten Fink - Germany
Fink, like Stefan Klos, was born in Dortmund. Fink, though, would never play senior football for Borussia Dortmund. Instead, he started his career in SG Wattenscheid, and would help the team gain promotion into the Bundesliga for their first and only time so far. The team was relegated after four seasons in Germany’s top division, and Thorsten Fink packed his bags.
He spent the next three seasons as a regular starter for Karlsruher, where he impressed the mighty FC Bayern München, whom he joined at the peak of their FC Hollywood phase. Fink was 30 at the time of the transfer. He soon established himself as a regular first team player in Bayern, and would go on to win four Bundesliga titles, three cup trophies, one intertoto cup and the 2001 Champions League.
Fink also featured in the 1999 Champions League Final, where he came on as a substitute in the 80th minute. Bayern led Manchester United 1-0. In the first minute of injury time, Fink would mishit a clearance, which landed at Ryan Giggs’ feet. Giggs fires a shot, and Teddy Sheringham guides his shot into the goal. Ole Gunnar Solskjær would score United's second goal one minute later and defeat Bayern München 2-1.
Thorsten Fink should have been good enough to play for Germany. The German national team had a very poor World Cup 1998 and European Championship in 2000, which is when Fink was at his peak.
4: Mikel Arteta - Spain
Despite being a graduate of La Masia, FC Barcelona’s famous youth academy, Mikel Arteta would never play for Barcelona’s first team. He played for Barcelona B and C before he was loaned out to Paris Saint-Germain for 18 months. The young playmaker would play alongside Ronaldinho in an exciting PSG side. When his loan finished, Arteta spent two years at Rangers, where he played alongside Stefan Klos, number 8 on our list.
Arteta then moved to Everton FC in 2005 and remained there for six seasons. Joining Arsenal in 2011, Mikel Arteta was transformed into a modern deep-lying playmaker under Arsène Wenger’s mentorship. Despite having trouble staying injury free, especially during the last two seasons, Arteta became a fan favourite at Arsenal, and captained the team during his last two years at the club.
After retiring in 2016, Arteta joined fellow La Masia graduate Pep Guardiola’s backroom staff at Manchester City, where he is an assistant coach.
Arteta represented Spain at under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-21 youth teams a total of 42 times. An very technical player with fantastic vision and an incredible ability to open up defences with his passing, Arteta never featured for Spain’s national team because of bad luck. His peak was between 2008 and 2012, which coincided with the peaks of some of the greatest midfielders of all time: Andrés Iniesta and Xavi Hernández. Spain also had central midfield players like Cesc Fàbregas, Xabi Alonso, Santi Cazorla, David Silva and Sergio Busquets in front of Mikel Arteta in their pecking order.
Spain, of course, won the European Championships in 2008, the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Euros with one of the greatest midfield cores of all time.
3: Steve Bruce - England
Life could have turned out very differently for Stephen Roger Bruce. Though he was recognised as a talented footballer as a schoolboy, several professional clubs rejected him. Among these were Newcastle United, Sunderland, Derby County and Southport. In the end, a contract with third-division club Gillingham allowed Bruce to start his long and illustrious career.
After seven seasons with Gillingham and three seasons with Norwich, the last of which as club captain, Steve Bruce joined the club most people would associate him with: Manchester United. He would captain United as the team started to dominate the English league system, and his iconic centre back partnership with Gary Pallister is described by Manchester United itself as “arguably the best” the club has ever known. High praise indeed.
Steve Bruce came very close to playing for England. In fact, he did play a single game for an English national team! In 1987, the year he transferred to Manchester United, Steve Bruce captained England B in a friendly against Malta. However, this does not count as a cap for England.
Throughout his career, Steve Bruce played 737 league games and won 14 titles. He was also voted into Premier League’s domestic Team of the Decade as one of the two best English centre backs to feature in the Premier League during its first 10 seasons. Since retiring, Bruce has gone into football management, where he has enjoyed moderate success..
2: Paolo di Canio - Italy
It’s hard to know where to start with Paolo di Canio. He is a man of such extremes: extreme talent, but also extreme political views.
Di Canio first played for Lazio, the team he grew up idolising, before transferring to Juventus. He would win the 1993 UEFA Cup with the Bianconeri, but did not play as often as he wanted.
In the six seasons between 1993/94 and 1998/99, Paolo di Canio would play for four different clubs: Napoli, AC Milan, Celtic and Sheffield Wednesday. His subsequent four seasons with West Ham is probably his most memorable sporting spell. He became a cult hero at West Ham, and gave us both the most incredible display of sportsmanship the Premier League has ever seen and one of the greatest goals ever scored in English football:
While I don’t want to dive into Paolo di Canio’s political beliefs here, I would encourage you to read his wikipedia page if you are interested. Safe to say, he is an unsavoury character.
Like Steve Bruce, Paolo di Canio only featured for for his country’s B team, and only once. He came on as a substitute in the 46th minute for Italy B in a friendly game against England B in 1989. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.
1: Gabi - Spain
To say that Gabriel Fernández Arenas, best known as Gabi, is an Atlético Madrid legend is putting it lightly. Leaving the club on a free transfer to join Xavi at Al Sadd before this season, Gabi is referred to as eterno capitán - eternal captain - by Atlético’s loyal supporters.
Gabi’s footballing career can almost be read as a classic three act structure: the protagonist is introduced in the first act, he faces trials and tribulations in the second act, but becomes victorious in the end.
Born in Madrid and a graduate of Atlético’s youth academy, Gabi made his debut for Atleti at the age of 20, and established himself as a regular central midfield player by his early 20s. Zaragoza came knocking in 2007, and Gabi joined Los Maños for €9 million. Because they were a relatively weak side, Gabi had a lot of responsibility in the team and grew tremendously during the next four seasons. In 2010, he was made captain.
In 2011, Gabi was given the opportunity to re-join his beloved Atlético Madrid, and promptly did so. Six months later, Diego Simeone was appointed as their new manager, and Simeone saw Gabi as the brains of the team. The rest, as they say, was history. Atleti won the Europa League that season. Next season, Gabi was made captain of the club, and would lead the club to victories in Copa del Rey and La Liga before a second Europa League in his final season.
“I did not only want to be a footballer, I wanted to play for Atlético.”
Gabi is one year younger than Mikel Arteta, and has thus suffered the same fate as his countryman while Spain had one of the most dominating eras in international football. Gabi and Zaragoza had just been relegated before the European Championships in 2008, and Gabi was likely never considered for that squad. By the time World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 rolled around, the defensive midfield position was taken by Sergio Busquets and Javi Martínez.
Gabi should arguably have been called up for the 2014 World Cup. He had a fantastic season leading up to the World Cup. Atlético Madrid won the league, reached the semi-finals of the cup, and narrowly lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid with Gabi as the team captain. Gabi was voted into the Team of the Season for both La Liga and the Champions League. Instead, Spain brought a stagnant squad to Rio, and crashed out in the group stage as current holders, finishing third behind the Netherlands and Chile.
In the end, Gabi only played with the Spanish crest on his chest 19 times: seven times for the under-20s and 12 times for the under-21s. While he never become a hero for the Spanish national team, eterno capitán’s legacy lives on in Atlético Madrid, where his number 14 jersey has become iconic.
Honourable mentions (kind of):
There are thousands of footballers who never get to represent their countries, but I want to highlight three players. These players are all 25 years old or younger, and still have plenty of time left in their careers to play international football. But, they are so talented that it’s strange we haven’t seen them play on the international stage yet.
Leon Bailey (21) - Jamaica
Bailey, who currently plays for Bayer Leverkusen, is an extremely quick and talented winger who seems to have a very poor attitude. As one of the brightest talents playing in Europe, he should be a shoe-in for a national team as weak as Jamaica’s: they are currently ranked as the 54th best national team in the world. But Bailey (or his infamous stepfather) have refused call-ups from the Jamaicans, and threatened to have Bailey play for England instead. Problem is, he is ineligible to play for England.
He accepted a call-up to play for Jamaica in October 2018 on the condition that his little brother also be called up. However, he decided against playing the game after feeling that the Jamaican Football Federation had not honoured their end of the deal.
Alex Telles (25) - Brazil/Italy
Alex Telles was born and raised in Brazil, but has played most of his career in Europe.
An offensive left back with flair to spare, Telles is as stereotypically Brazilian as they come. One small problem is that Brazil currently has a glut of world class left backs. Marcelo, Filipe Luis and Alex Sandro all play for top 5 clubs in Europe, making Alex Telles the Brazilian fourth choice. At best.
Telles also holds an Italian passport, making it possible for him to feature for the Azzuri. His great grandparents are Italian, and Telles once stated in an interview that he “feels Italian”.
“I may be Brazilian, but my great grandparents are Italian and I feel Italian”
Alex Telles’ story might end in a similar way to Emerson Palmieri's story. Emerson is also a Brazilian-born left back with Italian heritage. He made his Italy debut in September 2018, just 18 months after gaining Italian citizenship.
Aymeric Laporte (24) - France/Spain
Laporte is an interesting case. Born in France to French parents, he qualified as Basque through his great grandparents. This allowed Spanish club Atheltic Bilbao, who have self-imposed rules about only using Basque players, to invest in the young Frenchman.
Aymeric Laporte is a brilliant centre back with a fantastic left foot, so there is no wonder that Pep Guardiola courted him. Laporte joined Manchester City in January 2018, and has since established himself as a regular starter in one of the world’s best teams.
Laporte has represented France through every youth level, been captain of each youth team, and says that he would prefer to play for France. But because Laporte lived in Spain for 8 years, he coulld start the process of gaining a Spanish citizenship and make himself available for La Roja instead. He has taken part in one French national team squad, but did not play.
Rumour has it that Laporte is left out in the cold for France because he doesn’t get along well with core players in the French squad: Laporte is too cocky and arrogant, and he’s also a bit of a loner. Reports from France claim that Laporte in particular doesn’t get along with Antoine Griezmann, one of the players that the team and their tactics are built around.
France has an unbelievable generation of young centre backs coming through the ranks at the moment. Besides Laporte, France have recently called up the following centre backs:
Benjamin Pavard (22, Stuttgart)
Lucas Hernández (22, Atlético Madrid)
Presnel Kimpembe (23, Paris Saint-Germain)
Raphaël Varane (25, Real Madrid)
Kurt Zouma (24, Chelsea - on loan to Everton)
Samuel Umtiti (25, Barcelona)
That’s six extremely talented centre backs, all playing for elite clubs, and that’s just counting those 25 or younger. In addition, there are several very exciting centre backs playing for France's under-21 side:
Dayut Upamecano (20, RB Leipzig)
Abdou Diallo (22, Borussia Dortmund)
Malang Sarr (19, Nice)
Staggering. From a cynical perspective, Spain might be a better choice for Aymeric Laporte. They've had two poor World Cups in a row. Their defence doesn’t have anywhere near the quality France has. Sergio Ramos is turning 33 in March, and Gerard Piqué has recently retired from international duty. Sounds like there should be plenty of room for a young centre back born in France.
