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It’s hardly a surprise that the best players in the world right now – the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Kevin de Bruyne and Harry Kane – hail from countries that are ranked highly in the FIFA world rankings in the form of Portugal, Argentina, France, Belgium and England respectively.
However, sometimes great players can come from countries not necessarily known for their football. The following 5 players – who all star for big sides in top European leagues – hail from countries who currently sit outside FIFA’s top 100 ranking.
#1 Marvelous Nakamba – Aston Villa and Zimbabwe (ranked #111)
Aston Villa’s all-action midfielder Marvelous Nakamba has made a largely seamless transition into the Premier League this season after joining the Midlands club for a fee of €12m in the summer of 2019.
Nakamba has thus far made 19 appearances for the Villains, and has quickly become a fan favourite due to his intense work-ethic, tough-tackling style and strong range of passing.
Unfortunately for the midfielder though, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see him star at a World Cup in the foreseeable future at least; Nakamba represents 111th ranked Zimbabwe, who have never qualified for international football’s marquee tournament in their history and were infamously expelled from qualification for the 2018 edition after failing to pay the salary of their former coach.
While this is obviously a sad state of affairs for Nakamba, who previously played in the Netherlands and Belgium with Vitesse and Club Brugge, he’s undoubtedly the most successful player produced by the African country in recent years.
When he was signed by Villa in the summer, it was confirmed that he’d have a statue of himself built in Zimbabwean town Hwange after becoming just the 4th player from the country to appear in the English football league.
#2 Mariano Diaz – Real Madrid and Dominican Republic (ranked #158)
Real Madrid striker Mariano Diaz may well end up slipping off this list at some point in the future; the Spanish-born 26-year old has one cap for 158th ranked Dominican Republic, but as that cap came in a friendly match with Haiti in 2013 – a match that saw Mariano score the last goal of a 3-1 victory – he remains eligible to play for the country of his birth, and in the hopes of this has reportedly refused any further call-ups.
At club level, meanwhile, Mariano has been with Los Blancos since 2011, when he was still a teenager. After making his way through Real’s various youth and reserve sides – most notably scoring a ridiculous 27 goals in 33 games for their ‘B’ team in their Segunda Division B campaign of 2015-16 – he was promoted to the full senior side, where he made 14 appearances and scored 5 goals in their Champions League-winning season of 2016-17.
A move to Lyon followed, but after one full season in France that saw Mariano score 18 goals in 34 Ligue 1 games, he returned to the Bernabeu for a fee of around €23m, and has since been handed the #7 shirt once worn by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Injuries have hampered his career with Los Blancos since, but he has opened his scoring account in both La Liga and the Champions League for the club.
#3 Chris Wood – Burnley and New Zealand (ranked #122)
2020 marks a decade since the New Zealand national football team last qualified for a World Cup, and of course, that tournament remains famous for fans of the All Whites, as despite elimination at the group stage, they returned home surprisingly unbeaten after 3 draws, including one against holders Italy.
Will New Zealand qualify for another World Cup soon? It’s possible, and part of the reason for that is the fact that they can call upon a proven Premier League goalscorer to lead the line in the form of Burnley’s Chris Wood. The 28-year-old has been capped 56 times for the All Whites, and has scored 24 goals since debuting in 2009.
At club level Wood has always been a dependable if not prolific goalscorer, and after scoring 27 goals in the EFL Championship for Leeds United in 2016-17, he made the move to Burnley during the following season and has since scored 34 goals for the club.
As of writing, Wood has scored 10 Premier League goals for the Clarets in the current 2019-20 campaign, including strikes in wins over Leicester City and Manchester United – making him arguably Sean Dyche’s most important player.
#4 Milot Rashica – Werder Bremen and Kosovo (ranked #115)
The 115th-ranked side in the current FIFA rankings, Kosovo could yet qualify for the upcoming Euro 2020 tournament after winning their group in League D of the inaugural UEFA Nations League.
It’s hardly a surprise then that their style of play belies their lowly ranking, and a number of their stars – players such as Vedat Muriqi and Mergim Vojvoda – could’ve been named on this list.
The pick of the bunch, however, is midfielder/forward Milot Rashica, who currently stars in the Bundesliga for Werder Bremen. The 23-year-old - who can play largely anywhere in midfield or in attack as a dangerous dribbler – has scored 7 goals and registered 3 assists in 18 Bundesliga appearances in the current season, and his strong performances have earned him links with a move to Liverpool for a potential £31m fee.
Interestingly, Rashica didn’t begin his international career with Kosovo; instead he played for 66th ranked Albania in 2016, receiving 2 caps in friendly games before switching allegiance later that year.
Since making the move he’s scored 4 goals in 24 appearances for the country of his birth, including strikes in the afore-mentioned Nations League as well as 2 in Euro 2020 qualifiers.
#5 Mbwana Samatta – Aston Villa and Tanzania (ranked #134)
The Premier League has seen its fair share of African players over the years, including stars such as Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) and Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo).
Until recently though, no player from 134th ranked Tanzania had made his way to England. That all changed in January when striker Mbwana Samatta joined Aston Villa.
Samatta – who was born in the Tanzanian capital Dar Es Salaam and has made 56 appearances for his country, scoring 20 goals – signed for the Midlands club for a fee of around £8.5m from Belgian side Genk, and the hope for manager Dean Smith is that he’ll score the goals to keep Villa in the Premier League.
He’s already gotten off to a good start, scoring on his league debut for his new side in a 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth.
A proven goalscorer prior to joining Villa, Samatta started his career in Africa, playing in the Tanzanian and the Congolese leagues before moving to Europe with Genk in 2016 after being named as the best African player on the continent.
Following his move, he scored 75 goals in 191 games for the Belgian side – including 20 in 28 appearances in 2018-19 – and Villa fans will be hoping that he can use his powerful finishing skills and goalscoring touch to save them this season.
