England’s Lost XI: The Best Eligible Players Who Never Played for England

Even just writing this article was painful enough, the England team we could’ve had if all eligible players chose England is truly special.

We all know that England as a country is as multicultural as it comes and for years this has resulted in an England team that truly reflects this. However, even despite this, there are always some absolute superstars which end up declaring for other nations, or who naturally have much stronger connections with other countries, who slip through the cracks.

Rather than create a strongest XI if all who were eligible declared, we’ve decided to try and build our Strongest XI using only players who DO NOT play for the England national team BUT were eligible to under FIFA’s guidelines.

Trigger Warning: It hurts.

 

 

GK: Angus Gunn – Nottingham Forest – Scotland

No doubt the weakest spot in this team, Gunn is eligible to play for England through being born in Norwich. However, Gunn committed his international football career to Scotland in March 2023, choosing to represent the Tartan Army over England. Though he previously played for England at the U21 level, he qualified for Scotland through his father, former Scotland international Bryan Gunn. He has since gone on to make 21 caps for Scotland. Certainly not an amazing option but goalkeeper proved harder than I thought.

 

DEF: Matty Cash – Aston Villa – Poland

We’ve decided to go for 3 at the back due to the sheer amount of attacking quality in this team. Nonetheless, Cash is a quality defender in his own right and by no means a spare part. Born in Slough, Cash is eligible to play for Poland via his Polish mother, who was born in the UK to Polish parents. There were surprisingly quite a few options at right back including Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Jeremie Frimpong. But in my opinion, Cash is the far superior of the 3 and has had a far better season.

 

DEF: Ethan Ampadu – Leeds – Wales

Some more positional skulduggery here as Ampadu comes in next. Despite being born in Exeter and therefore eligible to play for England, Ampadu was in fact eligible to play for Wales, Ghana and the Republic of Ireland as well. Before settling on Wales, which he qualifies through via his Welsh mother. Despite mainly playing in midfield for Leeds this season, Ampadu has spent a large portion of his career at centre back, so is certainly no stranger to playing there. He is both Leeds and Wales’s captain, logging over 110 appearances for Leeds and 61 for Wales. All at the age of just 25. He has enjoyed a great season for Leeds and looks like a stellar player for the future.

 

DEF: Antonee Robinson – United States

Despite already accruing over 50 appearances for the United States, he was born in Milton Keynes and raised in Liverpool, England. His father was born in England but raised in White Plains, New York, and gained American citizenship. In March 2018, Robinson was invited to both the United States senior and England under-21 camps, and accepted the United States senior call for a friendly against Paraguay, thus cementing his allegiance. Robinson was one of Fulham’s standout performers in the 2024/25 campaign, and despite some large absent periods, was able to regain his place in the first team and finish the season strong this year.

 

DM: Scott McTominay – Scotland

The second Scot in the team, McTominay was born in England but qualifies for Scotland through his father, who is from Helensburgh.

“I wanted to play for Scotland and I always have done since I was a young boy and it was an incredibly proud moment for me when he did call me up”.

This quote says it all really. Since choosing Scotland, McTominay has reached heights even he must have thought were not possible. Going to Napoli and winning the Scudetto, as well as being crowned Serie A player of the season. McTominay has now cemented himself as one of the best central midfielders in Europe and is no doubt one of the players England will be most gutted about not getting their hands on.

 

RM: Michael Olise – France

Arguably the most painful on the list given his predisposition to England. Olise was born in England to a Nigerian father and Franco-Algerian mother, and was eligible to represent France, Algeria, England or Nigeria internationally. However, he has always claimed he feels a much stronger connection to the French National team as it is who he grew up watching and supporting. Nonetheless, the fact he has spent his entire upbringing in England and in the English youth system, means this was a tougher one to swallow. What a player.

 

CAM: Jamal Musiala – Germany

Keep the pain train coming. Now this one potentially hurts even more than Olise, as up until U21 level, Musiala had represented England. Despite being born in Stuttgart, Germany, Musiala moved to England when he was 7, and spend the majority of his time in youth football in the English system. However, he would later return to Germany at the age of 16 for personal reasons as well as the impending Brexit decision. So yes, David Cameron is the reason Musiala represents Germany over England. Jokes aside, this is one that really did get away.

 

CAM: Ademola Lookman – Nigeria

Another graduate of England’s U21 team. Lookman was born in Wandsworth, London, and spent his youth career coming up through the ranks at Charlton before getting his move to Everton. Despite his caps and success for England at youth level, and having previously rejected Nigeria’s approaches, in January 2020 the Nigeria Football Federation announced that Lookman would be switching his international allegiance to Nigeria. Like many others here, he has since gone on to reach new heights. Punching in 3 excellent seasons at Atalanta and now plying his trade for Athletico Madrid.

 

LM: Antoine Semenyo – Ghana

Yet another Londoner, Semenyo was born in Chelsea and could’ve played for England, France or Ghana. He came up thrugh the youth system at Bristol City, before getting his big move to Bournemouth, where he really kicked on into the superstar he is today. Unlike some of the others, Semenyo was not involved in England’s youth teams, making his declaration a lot easier.

“”Ghana came at 20, 21?” he said, “and I can’t turn down playing first team for Ghana, so it was such an easy decision.”

 

ST: Erling Haaland – Norway

Haaland was famously born in Leeds while his father was still playing in England, meaning he would’ve been eligible to play for the England team. However, this one is a lot easier to make peace with given he is Norwegian through and through and moved back there at the age of three. Nonetheless, his eligibility means he finds himself in this squad. Imagine the damage a partnership of him and Kane could cause.

 

ST: Florian Balogun – United States

Currently one of the best young strikers in Ligue 1, Balogun did in fact grow up in London and spent around 10 years in the Arsenal academy after being scouted at the age of eight. However, Balogun was in fact born in New York City to Nigerian parents, and as a result could’ve represented either of those two nations as well. Despite again featuring consistently in English youth teams, Balogun would make the switch to the US national team in 2023 after failing to break into the England team following his youth inclusion.

 

Honourable Mentions:

 

• Jeremie Frimpong
• Aaron Wan-Bissaka
• Ethan Pinnock
• Wilfred Zaha
• Tariq Lamptey
• Alex Iwobi
• Giovanni Reyna

 

Let us know if there’s anyone we missed!

 

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