Premier League: Underrepresented Nations in the History of the English Top Flight
Football is a truly global game, and since its inception in 1992, the English Premier League has showcased players of various nationalities - some far more successfully than others. In January 2025, Manchester City signed Abdukodir Khusanov, who became the first player to represent Uzbekistan, taking the league’s total nationalities to 126.
There are still some countries to be ticked off, with India, Thailand and Ethiopia amongst the clutch of nations yet to field a Premier League performer. Yet, some countries have managed to produce fewer than a handful of stars, and we’ve taken a closer look at some of the players who are almost single-handedly flying the flag for their country of origin.
Cuba
Norwich are responsible for fielding the first and only Cuban to appear in the top flight, with Onel Hernandez first representing the Canaries in August 2019. He also made history by becoming the first player to reside outside of his homeland to be called up for the international squad. Although the East Anglian outfit has recently released him, he has been focusing on helping to propel his country to just their second FIFA World Cup, despite starting on the bench during their unfortunate 2-1 defeat to Bermuda.
Hernandez made a total of 26 Premier League appearances for Norwich, notching a single goal and claiming a couple of assists.
Dominican Republic
Despite moving to Spain at a young age, Junior Firpo was born in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, and became the first player to represent his country of birth to feature in the English top flight back in 2021.
Although he had previously turned out for Spain Under-21s, Firpo finally opted to represent the Dominican Republic at the start of 2024 and has been the stand-out player for The Quisqueyanos, netting three times in his first ten appearances.
Domestically, he was a key part of Leeds United’s Championship-winning side that started as pre-season favourites with the majority of bookmakers. Despite making 32 appearances and scoring four times in the second tier, the Whites have opted against renewing his contract. As a consequence, Firpo will become a free agent at the beginning of July and is unlikely to add to his 19 top-flight appearances.
The West Yorkshire club are aiming to reshape their squad ahead of its Premier League return. Recent history dictates that all three promoted sides are likely to struggle, although the bookmaker odds suggest that the Whites are the most likely of the newcomers to survive, with bettors able to get anything from around 4/5 to 11/10 for the Elland Road outfit to drop straight back into the Championship. With hundreds of online betting sites available, it’s strongly advised to shop around for the best price, and players should always consider checking online betting exchanges as well as good online casinos, many of which have launched accompanying sportsbooks offering a comprehensive selection of ante-post markets.
Belarus
There have been just two Belarusians to grace the Premier League, although Blackpool’s Sergei Kornilenko is unlikely to be remembered for his six appearances whilst on loan from Rubin Kazan. Alexander Hleb made more of an impression, featuring 108 times for Arsenal and Birmingham City. During his spell in the UK, the midfield magician scored eight times and claimed 15 assists.
After 646 appearances, he opted to retire back in Belarus in 2020 before coming out of retirement at the age of 40 to play for Bahraini Premier League side Al Khaldiya.
Oman
The former Bolton and Wigan goalkeeper is potentially one of the most reliable and likeable Premier League footballers of all time, and he remains the only player to represent Oman in the top flight. The Muscat-born stopper spent a large portion of his career in England, making 114 Championship appearances and 111 Premier League starts.
Although he was generally involved in top-flight relegation battles, the now-retired keeper managed to keep 23 PL clean sheets and also represented his country on the international stage 141 times.
Al-Habsi had a trial at Manchester United and did enough to impress Sir Alex Ferguson; however, Visa issues prevented the Scot from signing him. The goalkeeper opted to spend time in Norway instead and was voted as the division’s Player of the Season in 2004.