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List of first black players for European national football teams

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The following is a list of the first black or mixed-race players to represent European international association football teams. The first black man to play international football was Andrew Watson, who earned the first of his three caps for Scotland on 12 March 1881, when he captained them in a 6–1 win away to England at The Oval in London.[1]

Team Player Debut Against Notes
 Scotland Andrew Watson 12 March 1881  England Born in Demerara, British Guiana (now Guyana) to an Afro-Guyanese mother and Scottish father.[1]

No black players represented Scotland since Watson until the debut of Nigel Quashie on 27 May 2004. Quashie was born in London to a Ghanaian father and English mother, and qualified for Scotland through a grandfather.[2]

 Austria Helmut Köglberger 5 September 1965  Hungary Born in Steyr, Austria to an African-American father and Austrian mother.
 Belgium Dimitri Mbuyu 4 February 1987  Portugal Born in Berchem, Belgium, of Congolese origin.
 Faroe Islands Sonni Nattestad 19 November 2013  Malta Born in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, of Afro-Haitian origin.
 France Raoul Diagne 15 February 1931  Czechoslovakia Diagne was born to Senegalese parents in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, French Guiana.[3]
 Wales Eddie Parris 5 December 1931  Northern Ireland Parris, born to a black Barbadian father and white English mother in Pwllmeyric near Chepstow, played one match for Wales.[4]
 Germany Erwin Kostedde 22 December 1974  Malta Born in Münster to an African-American father and German mother.[5]
 Greece Daniel Batista Lima 12 October 1994  Finland Born in São Vicente, Cape Verde, a naturalised Greek citizen.
 England Viv Anderson 29 November 1978  Czechoslovakia The first black player to represent England at any level was John Charles (footballer, born 1944), who played for the England under 18's in 1962 and scored against Israel.[6] Paul Ince was the nation's first black captain, against the United States in June 1993.[7]
 Republic of Ireland Chris Hughton 29 October 1979  United States Hughton was born in London to a Ghanaian father and Irish mother.[8]
 Spain Donato Gama da Silva 16 November 1994  Denmark Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a naturalised Spanish citizen. The first Spanish-born black player in the team was Vicente Engonga, born in Barcelona to Equatoguinean parents, who debuted against Russia on 23 September 1998.
 Netherlands Humphrey Mijnals 3 April 1960  Bulgaria Born in Paramaribo, Surinam, then a Dutch plantation colony, played three matches for the Netherlands and 45 matches for Suriname.[9][10][11]
 Norway John Carew 18 November 1998  Egypt Born in Akershus, to Gambian father and Norwegian mother.[12]
 Poland Emmanuel Olisadebe 16 August 2000  Romania Born in Warri, Nigeria, a naturalised Polish citizen.
 Portugal Guilherme Espírito Santo 28 November 1937  Spain Born in Lisbon, Portugal, of São Toméan descent.
 Italy Fabio Liverani 25 April 2001  South Africa Born in Rome to a Somali mother and Italian father.[13]
 Bulgaria Lúcio Wagner 9 May 2006  Japan Born in Río de Janeiro, Brazil, a naturalized Bulgarian citizen.
 Czech Republic Theodor Gebre Selassie 4 June 2011  Peru Born in Třebíč to an Ethiopian father and Czech mother.[14]
  Switzerland Badile Lubamba 2 September 2000  Russia Born in Kinshasa, he moved to Switzerland at a young age.[15] Blaise Nkufo - the second black player to appear for Switzerland - came on as a substitute in the same match.
 Iceland Anthony Karl Gregory 8 August 1990  Faroe Islands
 Croatia Eduardo da Silva 16 November 2004  Republic of Ireland Born in Rio de Janeiro, he was naturalised as a Croatian citizen.
 Slovakia Karim Guédé 10 August 2011  Austria Born in Hamburg to a Togolese mother and French father, he was naturalised as a Slovakian citizen.
 Sweden Jean-Paul Vonderburg 14 February 1990  United Arab Emirates Swedish born. Martin Dahlin appeared for Sweden's Olympic team in 1988.
 Ukraine Edmar Halovskyi de Lacerda 10 August 2011  Sweden Born in Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil, he was naturalised as a Ukrainian citizen.
 Northern Ireland Jeff Whitley 11 February 1997  Belgium Born in Lusaka, Zambia to a Northern Irish father and Zambian mother.
 Denmark Simon Poulsen 28 March 2007  Germany Born in Sønderborg, of Nigerian and African-American ancestry.
 Turkey Vahap Özaltay 14 October 1927  Bulgaria Born in Beirut, Lebanon to Afro-Turk parents.
 Hungary Thomas Sowunmi 18 August 1999  Moldova Born in Lagos, Nigeria to a Nigerian father and Hungarian mother.
 Israel Baruch Dego 12 February 2003  Armenia Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia but moved to Israel at a young age. Rifaat Turk, an Israeli Arab from Jaffa, of African ancestry, was the first Arab to represent Israel on its national team.
 Finland Nikolai Alho 24 January 2014  Oman Born in Helsinki, Alho also has British citizenship.
 Cyprus Dossa Júnior 15 August 2012  Bulgaria Born in Lisbon, Portugal, Júnior was naturalised as a Cypriot citizen.
 Azerbaijan Ernani Pereira 7 October 2006  Portugal Born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Pereira was naturalised as an Azeri citizen.
 Macedonia Gilson Jesus da Silva 4 June 2006  Turkey Born in São Paulo, Brazil, da Silva was naturalised as a Macedonian citizen.
 Armenia Balep Ba Ndoumbouk 18 February 2004  Hungary Born in Cameroon, Ba Ndoumbouk was naturalised as an Armenian citizen.
 Luxembourg Benoît Lang 30 March 2005  Latvia Born in Metet, Cameroon, Lang was raised in Luxembourg.
 Malta Chucks Nwoko 10 February 1998  Georgia Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Nwoko was naturalised as a Maltese citizen.
 Russia Ari (footballer) 15 November 2018  Germany Born in Fortaleza, Brasil, Ari was naturalised as a Russian citizen.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b McGowan, Tom (23 February 2012). "Football pioneer: Andrew Watson - the first black international". CNN. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  2. ^ Darko, Isaac (22 September 2015). "Ghanaian players who chose Euro nations". Pulse. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  3. ^ "15 février 1931. Le premier footballeur noir en équipe de France est fils de ministre. Scandale..." [15 February 1931. The first black footballer in the France national team is son of minister. Scandal...]. Le Point (in French). 15 February 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  4. ^ "John Edward ('Eddie') Parris". Historycal Roots. 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  5. ^ "ERWIN KOSTEDDE: THE FIRST BLACK PLAYER FOR GERMANY". DFB. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  6. ^ Ashdown, Marc (16 October 2019). "First black England player revealed to be John Charles". The Athletic. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
  7. ^ Taylor, Daniel (28 November 2008). "Shy pioneer plays down his place in history". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Hughton factfile". 6 April 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  9. ^ "The Italian Exception". The New Yorker. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  10. ^ "Colourful Pioneers". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 8 March 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Humphrey Mijnals (1930)". Kent u deze nog?. 12 October 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  12. ^ "John Carew: Why football will never be more important than life and death". The Independent. 22 October 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Liverani is first black player to win Italy cap". The Guardian. 25 April 2001. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  14. ^ Petrák, Michal (29 May 2012). "Euro 2012: Czech Republic profile - Theodor Gebre Selassie". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  15. ^ "Le premier Noir en équipe de Suisse de football" (in French). Retrieved 11 September 2018.
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