Which Countries Have Had Just One Premier League Player?

The Premier League have had representatives from 119 out of the 211 FIFA-affiliated nations and in this article we will have a look back on the Premier League players who are the only ones to have represented their respective country.

This list stretches as far back as the very first season of the revamped competition so we really delve back into the archives to discover names that very few people may have heard of, as well as some household Premier League names too.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has scored more #PL goals for @Arsenal in 25 matches (6) than he did for Man Utd in 39 appearances (5 goals)#SOUARS pic.twitter.com/XtmWOH36oo

— Premier League (@premierleague) December 17, 2018

Armenia- Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Mkhitaryan is perhaps the most recognisable name on this list, the midfielder notably played for both Manchester United and Arsenal. He featured 39 times for each club, accumulating to 78 over a period of three and a half seasons. During his time in the English top-flight, he collected 13 goals and 14 assists and is known for taking part in a direct swap with Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez in January 2018. He certainly enjoyed this swap too, improving his attacking returns after the move to North London. Despite winning the Europa League with Manchester United in 2017, he never quite found success in terms of goal contributions. He has since found his feet, performing well at Roma before moving to Inter in 2022.

Central African Republic- Frederic Nimani

The centre-forward featured twice for Burnley during the 2009-10 season. He earned the loan move after a couple of successful seasons with AS Monaco, however he could not repeat his goalscoring form in France which saw him score seven times in 36 appearances. He showed promise when playing for Burnley reserves but could not duplicate it in the first tier so the Clarets did not pursue the move further at the end of the season. He did get back to his best with FC Fribourg in the Swiss fourth division and in 2018, earned four caps to make him eligible for this list.

Cuba- Onel Hernandez

Hernandez only got to experience Premier League crowds for the first half of the infamous 2019-20 campaign where the Covid-19 Pandemic halted English football for three months. This led to Hernandez's Premier League stint being extended- or rather Norwich City's relegation delayed. This season came after the Cuban was invloved in 18 goals, helping Norwich bounce straight back to the Premier League. The winger appeared 26 times in yellow during the 19-20 season, scoring once and assisting twice as the Canaries came rock-bottom, returning to the Championship.

In Dec 2018 Junior Firpo was a rumoured target of Man City and Real Madrid, with Real Betis reportedly wanting 40 million to sell in January. We're starting to see why. Has there ever been a bigger turnaround of form in a player? Magnificent. #LUFC pic.twitter.com/nek1mn2OlH

— Adonis Storr (@theadelites) February 26, 2023

Dominican Republic- Junior Firpo

Junior Firpo spent two years in the Premier League for Leeds United after a move from Barcelona for 15 million Euros to the White Rose club. His time in the Premier League did not go how Firpo would have hoped, as Leeds recorded 17th and 19th placed finishes during 2021-23 seasons. He has made 10 caps for his country, where he has scored three times. Junior Firpo is currently however, having the most contributive season of his career- not usually involved in all too many goals, he currently has 12 involvements in only 26 games in the Championship as the Dominican Republican looks set to earn Leeds a promtion back to the Premier League next season, although he is likely depart Elland Road this summer.

Equatorial Guinea- Pedro Obiang

Another well-known name, the Spanish-born midfielder made 91 appearances for West Ham United and has collected 19 caps for the Central-African nation, scoring three times. He experienced four somewhat successful seasons in East London. Not known for his scoring attributes and typically a defensive midfielder, he did find some good returns while at Upton Park and mainly London Stadium, scoring and assisting three times during his spell in England. Most notably Obiang helped the Hammers to a seventh placed finish in his first season, earning them a place in the Europa League qualifying rounds, however they got knocked out in the play-off round- losing 2-1 to Romanian outfit Astra Giurgiu.

Faroe Islands- Gunnar Nielsen

The goalkeeper was only at the Etihad for six months, earning his place on the list after replacing Shay Given who came off injured during the Citizens' 0-0 draw against Arsenal in April 2010. He never really broke into the squad however, and found himself with consistent minutes in the Icelandic top division. Nielsen did find success with his nation, collecting 70 caps.

Gibraltar- Danny Higginbotham

Higginbotham has by far and away accumulated the most Premier League appearances on this list and is also the only English top-flight player to have played for Gibraltar. He has 210 appearances for Man United, Derby County, Southampton, Sunderland and Stoke City. He spent 12 seasons in the Premier League and became somewhat of a journeyman throughout his 17-year long spell in English football. He only made three international appearances for his country and also suffered relegations with both Derby and Southampton- although he was not playing for the former in their record-breaking 2007-08 season.

Guatemala- Nathaniel Mendez-Laing

Mendez-Laing played his whole career in England however only experienced the top division once- with Cardiff City in 2018-19. He did however, manage to play in all top four English leagues within five seasons between 2014-2018. The Central-American player scored four times and assisted once in his only campaign in the Premier League and has since found his best form with Derby. The Birmingham-born winger has featured 15 times for his nation, however is yet to score.

Malta- Dylan Kerr

The Maltese-born international played in the Premier League's first-ever season and is still the only Malta representative in the competition. He made five appearances for Leeds. He played his football in England and Scotland and made only 38 club appearances in his short career, assisting twice.

Indonesia- Jordi Amat

Born in Barcelona, the centre-half Amat, made 52 appearances for Swansea City across four seasons between 2013-17. He helped Swansea achieve their highest-ever Premier League finish of eighth place- a campaign in which he made ten appearances. Jordi made 18 caps for Indonesia, where he has scored once. He is now located much closer to home, playing his trade in the first division of neighbouring country, Malaysia.

Iraq- Ali Al-Hamadi

Like most of the Ipswich squad, many of them have found the Premier League too big of a step. It is much the same for the 23-year-old centre-forward who made 11 appearances for the Tractor Boys before making a loan move to Stoke in January. He has found some form at the Bet365 Stadium and will hope to continue that form when he goes back to East-Anglia at the end of the season, where he most likely will have a big role in replacing Liam Delap- who is expected to depart if Ipswich get relegated. He has already scored three times in just 14 appearances for Iraq too, so he has a promising career ahead of him.

The first Kenyan to score in the #PL?

That accolade belongs to @VictorWanyama 👏#PLMoment 🇰🇪 pic.twitter.com/lF7V7WItCE

— Premier League (@premierleague) January 29, 2018

Kenya- Victor Wanyama

The player with the second-most Premier League appearances on this list, Wanyama was known for his strong physique and he made 154 appearances over seven seasons playing for Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur. He scored ten times, assisting three throughout his period in England and his best moment was helping Southampton earn European qualification in the 2015-16 season. However, just like most of that squad, he was poached by Daniel Levy for £11 million. One thing the Kenyan was not known for was keeping his discipline, as he found himself collecting ten bookings in two seperate seasons during his time in the Premier League.

Oman- Ali Al-Habsi

Ali Al-Habsi made 111 appearances for Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic in two seperate stints in the top-tier in 2007-08 and 2010-13. The middle-eastern goalkeeper has made the most caps for his respective country on this list with 141. He found success in England, making 20 clean sheets in 111 games and also most notably won the FA Cup against Man City 1-0, as his side became the only ever FA Cup winners to be relegated from the top division in the same season. Since his time in England came to an end, Al-Habsi found success in Saudi Arabia, playing for Al-Hilal before retiring in 2020.

Pakistan- Zesh Rehman

Zesh Rehman spent three seasons at Craven Cottage between 2003-06, playing 17 of his 21 matches during the 2004-05 season, where Fulham finished 13th. He spent eight pretty dull seasons in England before playing out the remainder of his career in Hong Kong- with an extra season in England with Gillingham in League One during the 2016-17 season. The Pakistani centre-back made 25 caps for his country, netting once.

Neil Etheridge has saved more penalties than any other goalkeeper in the season's Premier League:

• Penalties faced: 5
• Penalties saved: 3

Cardiff's very own superhero. 🦸‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/2Yax0gaEb8

— Squawka (@Squawka) December 29, 2018

Philippines- Neil Etheridge

Our second player from the Cardiff City squad during the 2018-19, Etheridge featured in all 38 matches that season. The goalkeeper had a successful season individually as he made ten clean sheets. The Bluebirds did obviously get relegated that season, however adding onto Etheridge's excellent individual campaign, he made a penalty save in each of Cardiff's first two games. Those saves came agianst Callum Wilson for Bournemouth and Kenedy for Newcastle. The latter save did earn the Welsh side an important point whilst the other was made in vain as his team lost 2-0 to Bournemouth.

Suriname- Ryan Donk

The Amsterdam-born centre-half featured 16 times for West Bromwich Albion during the 2008-09 season, collecting one assist. He remains the only Suriname representative in the Premier League and he even captained his country during his 12 caps where he scored twice. His team finished at the foot of the table in Donk's only season, where he then went on to play football in Turkey for a decade, before retiring in 2023.

Tanzania- Mbwana Samatta

Samatta made 14 appearances during his half-season at Villa Park. The forward enjoyed a successful spell with Genk which earned him the loan to the midlands. He scored on his debut on 1 February, subsequently becoming the only Tanzanian player to both play and score in the Premier League. Villa avoided relegation in the 2019-20 season by just one point, and Samatta then left for Turkey for £10.5 million.

🚨🔵 Official, exclusive story confirmed. Abdukodir Khusanov joins Manchester City from RC Lens.

He’s has signed a four-and-a-half year contract at City until the summer of 2029.

The first Uzbek player ever to play in Premier League! 🇺🇿🤝 pic.twitter.com/BsRaAxNhxS

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 20, 2025

Uzbekistan- Abdukodir Khusanov

And finally, the latest addition and last on this list (for now!) is Abdukodir Khusanov who was bought by Manchester City in January for £33.5 million from RC Lens. The centre-half has not had the best start to life in the blue side of Manchester, as he has scored two own goals in his first six matches for the club- including on his debut against Chelsea. He did however score to spark a comeback in the FA Cup away to Leyton Orient as Khusanov aims to prove the price tag put on his name was worth it.