List of foreign Bundesliga players

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This is a list of foreign players in the Bundesliga, which commenced play in 1963. The following players must meet both of the following two criteria:

  1. Have played at least one Bundesliga game. Players who were signed by Bundesliga clubs, but only played in lower league, cup and/or European games, or did not play in any competitive games at all, are not included. Players of 2. Bundesliga clubs are also not included.
  2. Are considered foreign, i.e., outside Germany determined by the following:
A player is considered foreign if he is not eligible to play for the national team of Germany.

More specifically,

  • If a player has been capped on 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 German players with dual citizenship.
  • If a player has not been capped on international level, his country of birth is used, except those who were born abroad from German parents or moved to Germany 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 Bundesliga game—and seasons are those in which the player has played at least one Bundesliga 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 2014, during the 2013–14 season, will have '2013–14' after his name. This follows general practice in expressing sporting seasons.

Also please consider, that season specifications shall only be divided into more than one element, if a player has at least one season played no game in the Bundesliga. For example, a player plays in 2012–13 at club "A" and in 2013–14 at club "B", the correct season specification is "2012–14". This approach is used to keep the list more clear and readable.

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

As of 18 August 2023

Naturalized players

[a]

UEFA

Albania

Armenia

Austria

Belarus

Kevin De Bruyne was awarded Footballer of the Year in Germany in 2015

Belgium

[d]

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Until 1992 part of SFR Yugoslavia

Sergej Barbarez, top goalscorer in 00–01
Edin Džeko, top goalscorer in 09–10

Bulgaria

Krasimir Balakov was part of the "magic triangle" at VfB Stuttgart from 1995 to 1997 (together with Giovane Élber and Fredi Bobic)

Croatia

Until 1991 part of SFR Yugoslavia

Striker Ivan Klasnić played a key role in Werder Bremen's 2000s success, culminating in winning the double of German championship and DFB-Pokal in 2003–04

Cyprus

Central midfielder David Jarolím, 2008–2010 Hamburger SV captain, earned 318 caps in the Bundesliga
in January 2001, playmaker Tomáš Rosický joined Borussia Dortmund for a then Bundesliga record transfer fee of DM 25 million (€12.5 million)

Czech Republic

Until 1992 Czechoslovakia

Ebbe Sand, top goalscorer in 00–01
Allan Simonsen was awarded European Footballer of the Year in 1977

Denmark

Kevin Keegan was awarded European Footballer of the Year in 1978 and 1979

England

Estonia

Faroe Islands

Finland

Left back Bixente Lizarazu, 1998 FIFA World Cup winner
Playmaker Johan Micoud was a pivotal figure in Werder Bremen's 2000s success, culminating in winning the double of German championship and DFB-Pokal in 2003–04
Franck Ribéry was awarded Footballer of the Year (Germany) in 2008 and European Footballer of the Year in 2013
2018 FIFA World Cup winner Lucas Hernandez moved to Bayern Munich in the most expensive incoming transfer in Bundesliga history

France

Levan Kobiashvili is the second most capped foreign player in Bundesliga history (351 games)
Theofanis Gekas, top goalscorer in 06–07

Georgia

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Israel

Italy

Luca Toni, top goalscorer in 07–08

Kazakhstan

Kosovo

Until 1992 part of SFR Yugoslavia, from 1992 to 2003 part of FR Yugoslavia, from 2003 to 2006 part of Serbia and Montenegro, from 2006 to 2008/2016 part of Serbia

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Malta

Moldova

Montenegro

Until 1992 part of SFR Yugoslavia, from 1992 to 2003 part of FR Yugoslavia, from 2003 to 2006 part of Serbia and Montenegro

From 2008 to 2011, Mark van Bommel was the first and thus far only foreign captain of Bayern Munich
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, top goalscorer in 11–12
From 2003 to 2007, Roy Makaay was the leading goalscorer of Bayern Munich
Arjen Robben was awarded Footballer of the Year (Germany) in 2010

Netherlands

[f]

Jørn Andersen was the first ever foreign Bundesliga top goalscorer (18 goals in 89–90)

North Macedonia

Until 1991 part of SFR Yugoslavia, from 1991 to 2019 named Republic of Macedonia

Norway

Poland

Błaszczykowski's Bundesliga career spanned eleven seasons with Dortmund and Wolfsburg
Robert Lewandowski, top goalscorer in 13–14, 15–16, 17–18,
18–19, 19–20, 20–21 and 21–22
Artur Wichniarek is the Bundesliga all-time top goalscorer of Arminia Bielefeld (45 goals)

Portugal

Republic of Ireland

Romania

Roman Neustädter, born in Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union), International for Germany and Russia

Russia

Until 1991 Soviet Union, from 1991 to 1992 CIS

Scotland

Serbia

Until 1992 SFR Yugoslavia, from 1992 to 2003 FR Yugoslavia, from 2003 to 2006 Serbia and Montenegro

Neven Subotić formed with Mats Hummels the centre-back pairing of Borussia Dortmund during the Jürgen Klopp era (2008–2015)
Marek Mintál, top goalscorer in 04–05

Slovakia

Until 1992 part of Czechoslovakia

Slovenia

Until 1991 part of SFR Yugoslavia

Javi Martínez's move to Bayern Munich previously held the record for the most expensive incoming transfer in Bundesliga history

Spain

Ronnie Hellström is the most capped foreign goalkeeper in Bundesliga history (266 matches)

Sweden

Stéphane Chapuisat is the 5th best foreign goalscorer in Bundesliga history (106 goals)

Switzerland

Central midfielder Ciriaco Sforza signed for Kaiserslautern thrice and Bayern München twice (265 Bundesliga matches)

Turkey

Gelsenkirchen native Halil Altıntop is the third most capped foreign player in Bundesliga history
Yunus Mallı is (alike Mohamed Zidan) the Bundesliga all-time top goalscorer of Mainz 05 (27 goals)
Nuri Şahin is the youngest player capped in Bundesliga history (16 years, eleven months and one day)

Ukraine

Until 1991 part of Soviet Union, from 1991 to 1992 part of CIS

Wales

CONMEBOL

Argentina

Bolivia

Brazil

In 2004, Aílton was the first ever foreign player to be awarded Footballer of the Year (Germany)
Giovane Élber, top goalscorer in 02–03
Grafite, top goalscorer in 08–09 and Footballer of the Year (Germany) in 2009
Zé Roberto is the fourth most capped foreign player in Bundesliga history

Chile

Colombia

Ecuador

Paraguay

Peru

Claudio Pizarro scored 190 Bundesliga goals, a record for a foreign player

Uruguay

Venezuela

CAF

Algeria

Angola

Benin

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Comoros

Congo

Democratic Republic of Congo

Until 1997 named Zaire

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was awarded African Footballer of the Year in 2015

Egypt

Equatorial Guinea

Gabon

Gambia

Ghana

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Ivory Coast

Mali

Morocco

Mozambique

Namibia

Nigeria

Senegal

Papiss Cissé is the Bundesliga all-time top goalscorer of SC Freiburg (37 goals)

Sierra Leone

South Africa

Togo

Tunisia

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbabwe

AFC

Australia

Cambodia

China PR

Iran

Japan

Attacking midfielder Shinji Kagawa played a key role in Borussia Dortmund's championships 10–11 and 11–12

Korea DPR

Korea Republic

Son Heung-min playing for Hamburger SV in 2011

Lebanon

Philippines

Tajikistan

Thailand

CONCACAF

Canada

Costa Rica

Jamaica

Mexico

Panama

Suriname

Trinidad and Tobago

Jermaine Jones, International for Germany and the United States

United States

OFC

New Zealand

See also

Notes

Notes:

  1. ^ Players that have been born abroad, moved to Germany later than the age of twelve, acquired German citizenship and waived the opportunity to play for the national teams of their native countries in order to be eligible to play for Germany
  2. ^ Held Austrian citizenship only between 1981 and 1984, so he was a foreign Bundesliga player only in the season 1983-84.
  3. ^ Held Austrian citizenship only from 1996 onwards, so he was a foreign Bundesliga player for Croatia in 1993-94.
  4. ^ Alphabetical ordering follows Belgian customs
  5. ^ Held Cypriot citizenship only from 2002 onwards, so he was not a foreign Bundesliga player in 1995-97
  6. ^ Alphabetical ordering follows Dutch customs
  1. ^
    Born in Angola
  2. ^
    Born in Argentina
  3. ^
    Born in Australia
  4. ^
    Born in Austria
  5. ^
    Born in Azerbaijan (then part of the Soviet Union)
  6. ^
    Born in Belarus (then part of the Soviet Union)
  7. ^
    Born in Belgium
  8. ^
  9. ^
    Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of SFR Yugoslavia)
  10. ^
  11. ^
    Born in Brazil
  12. ^
    Born in Cameroon
  13. ^
    Born in Canada
  14. ^
    Born in Croatia (then part of SFR Yugoslavia)
  15. ^
    Born in Cape Verde
  16. ^
  17. Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Zaïre
    )
  • ^
    Born in Denmark
  • ^
    Born in England
  • ^
    Born in France
  • Overseas territory of the French Republic
    )
  • ^
    Born in Germany
  • ^
    Born in Germany (then part of Allied-occupied Germany)
  • ^
    Born in Germany (then part of the German Empire)
  • ^
    Born in Germany (then part of West Germany)
  • ^
    Born in Ghana
  • country within the Kingdom of Denmark
    )
  • ^
  • ^
    Born in Hungary
  • ^
    Born in Indonesia
  • ^
    Born in Italy
  • ^
    Born in Ivory Coast
  • ^
    Born in Jamaica
  • ^
    Born in Japan
  • ^
    Born in Kosovo (then part of SFR Yugoslavia)
  • ^
    Born in Kyrgyzstan (then part of the Soviet Union)
  • ^
    Born in Latvia (then part of the Soviet Union)
  • ^
    Born in Lebanon
  • ^
    Born in Liberia
  • Overseas department of the French Republic
    )