List of first black players for European national football teams

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 Notes
 ScotlandAndrew Watson England, 12 March 1881Born 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]

 AustriaHelmut Köglberger Hungary, 5 September 1965Born in Steyr, Austria to an African-American father and Austrian mother.
 BelgiumDimitri Mbuyu Portugal, 4 February 1987Born in Berchem, Belgium, of Congolese origin.
 Faroe IslandsSonni Nattestad Malta, 19 November 2013Born in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, of Afro-Haitian origin.
 FranceRaoul Diagne Czechoslovakia, 15 February 1931Diagne was born to Senegalese parents in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, French Guiana.[3]
 WalesEddie Parris Northern Ireland, 5 December 1931Parris, born to Jamaican parents in Pwllmeyric near Chepstow, played one match for Wales.[4]
 GermanyErwin Kostedde Malta, 22 December 1974Born in Münster to an African-American father and German mother.[5]
 GreeceDaniel Batista Lima Finland, 12 October 1994Born in São Vicente, Cape Verde, a naturalised Greek citizen.
 EnglandViv Anderson Czechoslovakia, 29 November 1978The first black player to represent England at any level was Benjamin Odeje, for the England schoolboys team against Northern Ireland in 1971.[6] Paul Ince was the nation's first black captain, against the United States in June 1993.[7]
 Republic of IrelandChris Hughton United States, 29 October 1979Hughton was born in London to a Ghanaian father and Irish mother.[8]
 SpainDonato Gama da Silva Denmark, 16 November 1994Born 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.
 NetherlandsHumphrey Mijnals Bulgaria, 3 April 1960Born in Paramaribo, Surinam, then a Dutch plantation colony, played three matches for the Netherlands and 45 matches for Suriname.[9][10][11]
 NorwayJohn Carew Egypt, 18 November 1998Born in Akershus, of Gambian origin.[12]
 PolandEmmanuel Olisadebe Romania, 16 August 2000Born in Warri, Nigeria, a naturalised Polish citizen.
 PortugalGuilherme Espírito Santo Spain, 28 November 1937Born in Lisbon, Portugal, of São Toméan descent.
 ItalyFabio Liverani South Africa, 25 April 2001Born in Rome to a Somali mother and Italian father.[13]
 Bulgaria Lúcio Wagner  Bulgaria, 9 May 2006 Born in Río de Janeiro, Brazil, a naturalized Bulgarian citizen.
 Czech RepublicTheodor Gebre Selassie Peru, 4 June 2011Born in Třebíč to an Ethiopian father and Czech mother.[14]
  SwitzerlandBadile Lubamba Russia, 2 September 2000Born 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.
 IcelandVictor Pálsson Estonia, 2 June 2014Born in Reykjavík, his grandfather was from Mozambique.
 CroatiaEduardo da Silva Republic of Ireland, 16 November 2004Born in Rio de Janeiro, he was naturalised as a Croatian citizen.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 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. ↑ Shipton, Martin (8 August 2008). "Move to honour Wales' first black footballer". Wales Online. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  5. ↑ "ERWIN KOSTEDDE: THE FIRST BLACK PLAYER FOR GERMANY". DFB. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  6. ↑ Ashdown, Marc (24 May 2013). "First black England player revealed to be Benjamin Odeje". BBC. Retrieved 24 May 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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