Throughout history there have been hundreds of footballers who make the decision not to represent their country of origin, many through the nationality of their parents or naturalization and the reasons can be many, from not being considered by their country of birth , feeling identified with another nation, among other issues.
In the following list we name ten footballers of French origin who made the decision not to represent the French national team and chose to play for another nation.
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The Portuguese goalkeeper was born in Givors, France. Despite being born in France, he decided to defend his roots. He was part of the team that won the Euro Cup in 2016 and Fernando Santos included him in the list of 23 for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Portuguese goalkeeper has played his entire career in the Olympique Lyonnais.
Born in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, France, the current central defender of Al Hilal of the Saudi Pro-Leaguedespite having been international with the France U-20 team on 11 occasions, having played in the 2011 Toulon Hopes Tournament and the 2011 U-20 World Cup, he later preferred to represent Senegal.
He was called up for the first time by the Senegal national team at the beginning of September 2015 and participated in the 2018 and 2022 World Cup. He came to be considered one of the best center backs in the world, playing eigh
t seasons with the Naplesone with Chelsea and currently (2023-24) he left the elite to be part of the Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
The forward of Trabzonspor from Türkiye was born in Mantes-la-Jolie, France. He was called up by the Ivory Coast national team in November 2016, thanks to the origin of his parents. He made his debut on November 15 in a friendly against the France team.
The versatile Portuguese defender was born in Le Blanc-Mesnil, France, and currently plays as a defender for Bayern Munich.
Born to a Portuguese father and a French mother, he received offers from France and Portugal to be part of the national team. He was born and always lived in the French country, but decided on the Portuguese team with whom he has played in two European Championships and two World Cups.
The midfielder is originally from Nemours, France, and is currently part of the Olympique de Marseille of Ligue 1.
As an international he is captain of the Central African Republic team. He was also international in the lower categories of the French national team, becoming U-20 world champion in 2013 and making his debut in five friendly matches with the senior team.
The current AC Milan midfielder was born in Arles, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France, due to his dual nationality, both of his parents' countries offered him to play for their national teams. Morocco called him to play in the U-23 team, while Algeria offered him a place in the senior team. He finally opted for the Algerian team.
The forward was born in Sarcelles, France, to an Algerian father and an Algerian-Moroccan mother. He has been international with the Algeria national team 94 times and has scored 31 goals. He made his international debut on May 31, 2014 and played in the World Cup that same year and the African Cups in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
He stands out for having been part of the Leicester City from the Second Division in its first season until being promoted the next for a total of five seasons and having been part of the team that achieved the feat of being champion of the 2015-16 Premier League.
Subsequently, he spent another five seasons at Manchester City and from the start of the 2023-24 season he signed with the Al-Ahli Saudi from Saudi Arabia.
Born in Laval, Mayenne, France, he is a forward who is currently part of the Olympique de Marseille of Ligue 1. He was a full international with Gabon from 2009 until his retirement in 2022.
Throughout his career the player has played for five French clubs, in addition, he was part of Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea.
The Borussia Dortmund forward was born in Ris-Orangis, France, and was international in all the youth categories of the French national team. He chose to represent Côte d'Ivoire at senior level, making his debut on November 12, 2020 and scoring in the Ivorian team's 2-1 victory over Madagas
car.
On February 11, 2024, he won the African Cup of Nations title by winning 2-1 against Nigeria, where he scored the second goal.
He 'Pipita' is originally from Brest, Finisterre, the forward retired from the fields in October 2022 and went through many big clubs such as River Plate, Real Madrid, Napoli, Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea and finally retired with Inter Miami. With the albiceleste team he was part of three World Cups and three Copa América.
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