Players Who Left England National Team For African Teams

One of the major talking points within the international game in the 21st century has been the practice of switching teams, which has been facilitated by FIFA. Indeed, there are now plenty of examples where footballers have represented England before later declaring for another african country.

1. Wilfried Zaha (England to Ivory Coast)

Zaha earned his first cap for England in a 4-2 defeat against Sweden in 2012, a match remembered for Zlatan Ibrahimovic's stunning overhead kick. However, following a dispute between Gareth Southgate and Zaha's agent, Zaha eventually announced his decision to play for the Ivory Coast in 2016. Since then, he has accumulated 33 appearances for his new nation scoring a total of five goals.

2. Victor Moses (England to Nigeria)

Moses defied expectations by rising through the ranks of England's youth system despite being born in Kaduna, Nigeria. Moses continued to represent England until the under-21 level before switching allegiance to Nigeria in 2011. He participated in two World Cups before retiring from international football in 2018 amassing an impressive 37 caps and scoring 12 goals.

3. Alex Iwobi (England to Nigeria)

The former Everton man earned 11 caps for the Three Lions at underage level but went on to declare for the Super Eagles in 2015. He has actually gone on to surpass Moses' cap total for Nigeria. Iwobi has played 64 games for his nation since his debut. The new Fulham signing has also played at the AFCON and the 2018 World Cup.

4. Tariq Lamptey (England to Ghana)

Lamptey, a former Chelsea talent had the opportunity to play for both England and Ghana. After progressing through England's youth system and representing the under-21s, he received an offer from the Ghana Football Association to switch his allegiance. Unfortunately, his development was hampered by injury. Eventually he made his debut for Ghana in 2022 and was selected for the World Cup squad in Qatar last year.