List of Chinese naturalized footballers

Chinese naturalized footballers are association football players originally from another country who changed[Note 1] their nationality to Chinese (People's Republic of China) via naturalization.

History

Born in 1990 in Shanghai to a Tanzanian father and Chinese mother, Eddy Francis made one appearance for the China national under-14 football team in 2004. This was the first time a multiracial player has appeared for a Chinese national football team of any level.[1]

Since 2019, China had begun a series of naturalization on foreign-based players in order to improve the China national team's fortunes, with the naturalization of Nico Yennaris, an English-born Cypriot and Chinese player.[2] After the naturalization of Yennaris, China continued its naturalization process, with Tyias Browning, another English-born player with Chinese ancestry, being naturalized.[3] Subsequently, Elkeson, a Brazilian player with no Chinese ancestry, was naturalized to become the 90th Brazilian who chose to represent another team outside Brazil.[4]

List of naturalized footballers

The following is a list of notable Chinese naturalized footballers. Footballers who have non-Chinese descent but likely had Chinese nationality at birth (e.g. Eddy Francis) or who are not notable, do not appear in the list.

If the player has previously participated in official matches on behalf of other national teams, he will still not be able to play for the Chinese national team after acquiring or restoring Chinese nationality. However, he can participate in Chinese football competitions as a domestic player.

Origin name
(Chinese name)		 Born Origin nation Naturalized Eligible
for China		 Chinese
ancestry		 Reason of naturalization Notes
John Hou Sæter
(Hou Yongyong)		 1998  Norway 2019 TBD Y Born in Trondheim to a Norwegian father and a Chinese mother.
His ancestral home is Luoyang, Henan.		 [5]
Alexander N'Doumbou
(Qian Jiegei)		 1992  Gabon 2019 N Y Born in Port-Gentil to a Gabonese father and a Chinese mother.
His ancestral home is Zhejiang.		 [6]
Nico Yennaris
(Li Ke)		 1993  England 2019 Y Y Born in Leytonstone to a Cypriot father and a mother of Chinese origin.
His ancestral home is Guangdong.		 [7]
Pedro Delgado
(De'erjiaduo)		 1997  Portugal 2019 Y N Unknown; no Chinese ancestry. [8]
Elkeson
(Ai Kesen)		 1989  Brazil 2019 Y N Settled in China for a long time; no Chinese ancestry. [9]
Tyias Browning
(Jiang Guangtai)		 1994  England 2019 Y Y Born in Liverpool to a mother of Chinese origin.
His ancestral home is Jiangmen, Guangdong.		 [10]
Aloísio dos Santos Gonçalves
(Luo Guofu)		 1988  Brazil 2019 Y N Settled in China for a long time; no Chinese ancestry. [11]
Alan Carvalho
(A Lan)		 1989  Brazil 2019 Y N Settled in China for a long time; no Chinese ancestry. [12]
Ricardo Goulart
(Gao Late)		 1991  Brazil 2019–2021 N N Settled in China for a long time; no Chinese ancestry.
Renunciated Chinese nationality in late 2021.		 [13]
Fernandinho
(Fei Nanduo)		 1993  Brazil 2020 Y N Settled in China for a long time; no Chinese ancestry. [14]
Roberto Siucho
(Xiao Taotao)		 1997  Peru 2020 TBD Y Born in Lima to a father of Chinese origin.
His ancestral home is Zhongshan, Guangdong.		 [15]

See also

Notes
  1. Chinese nationals cannot have dual nationality according to the law.

References
  1. 丁慧非首位黑人国字号球员 国少早有混血儿入选
  2. "From Nico Yennaris to Li Ke: The name change fuelling Chinese dreams". TheGuardian.com. July 2019.
  3. "Can China win the World Cup with a handful of naturalized players?".
  4. "Brazilian-born striker set to play for China".
  5. 独家重磅!国安引归化球员取实质进展 签2人创历史. Sina. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  6. ""En 2012, je répondrais présent", Alexander Ndoumbou, international gabonais" (in French). Gabonews. 26 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2 February 2010. Retrieved 26 July 2010.
  7. "李可或在春节期间随母返回广东 进行认祖归宗仪式" (in Chinese). 1 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  8. "Chinese Super League Pedro Delgado First Non Chinese Player Naturalise". Sina (in Chinese). Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  9. "Brazil-born Elkeson included in China squad in landmark move". CNA. 18 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  10. 布朗宁入籍成功是中国公民 但能否出场需FIFA审核 (in Chinese), from Sina sports, 11 July 2019.
  11. "4名归化球员已入籍，洛国富等5人待办中".
  12. "归化球员的2019：生涯转折点 六大归化全面退步".
  13. "China's National Soccer Team Accepts First Naturalized Citizen". 30 May 2019.
  14. "Footballzz profile". Footballzz. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  15. "百万美元加盟恒大 他会是未来归化最高性价比之人吗". Sina (in Chinese). 2019-02-01. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
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