List of foreign Allsvenskan players

This is a list of foreign players in Allsvenskan, which commenced play in 1924. The following players must meet both of the following two criteria:

  1. have played at least one Allsvenskan game. Players who were signed by Allsvenskan clubs, but only played in lower league, cup and/or European games, or did not play in any competitive games at all, are not included.
  2. are considered foreign, determined by the following:
A player is considered foreign if he is not eligible to play for Sweden men's national football team.

More specifically,

  • If a player has been capped on international level, the national team is used; if he has been capped by more than one country, the highest level (or the most recent) team is used.
  • If a player has not been capped on international level, his country of birth is used, except those who were born abroad from Swedish parents or moved to Sweden at a young age, and those who clearly indicated to have switched his nationality to another nation.

Clubs listed are those which the player has played at least one Allsvenskan game for.

In bold: players who have played at least one Allsvenskan game in the most recent season (2024 Allsvenskan), and are still at the clubs for which they have played. This does not include current players of an Allsvenskan club who have not played an Allsvenskan game in the current season.

Background

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Ronald Powell, who played for Brynäs IF in the 1974 season, was the first foreign player in Allsvenskan.[1] Around 20 years later, in 1995, 18 foreign players played matches in the league, while in 2021, it had increased to 110 foreign players, being 28 percent of the players in the league that year.[2]

For the match squad, the limit of foreign players refers to if the players are home-grown or not.[3] Starting in the 2010s, each match squad of 18 players were to consist maximally to the half of not home-grown players.[4] For the 2023 season, when the total match squad size for Allsvenskan was increased from 18 to 20, the amount of non-home-grown players in the squad, would still be to the maximum half of the squad, however never more than 9.[3]

A foreign player must have a work permit, which they may earn when having a monthly salary of SEK 14,300.[5]

List of players

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Afghanistan

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Albania

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Agon Mehmeti has played 144 Allsvenskan matches for Malmö FF and Örebro.

Algeria

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Angola

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Argentina

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Armenia

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Australia

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Austria

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Azerbaijan

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Belarus

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Belgium

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Benin

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Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Haris Radetinac has played 278 Allsvenskan matches for Åtvidaberg, Mjällby and Djurgården.

Bolivia

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Brazil

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Álvaro Santos has played 165 Allsvenskan matches for Helsingborg, Örgryte and GAIS.

Bulgaria

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Burkina Faso

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Burundi

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Cameroon

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Canada

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Kyriakos Stamatopoulos has played 67 Allsvenskan matches for Enköping and AIK.

Cape Verde

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Chad

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Chile

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Miiko Albornoz has played 121 Allsvenskan matches for Brommapojkarna and Malmö FF.

Comoros

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Congo

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Costa Rica

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Celso Borges has played 71 Allsvenskan matches for AIK.

Croatia

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Curaçao

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Cyprus

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Czech Republic

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Denmark

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Peter Nymann has played 70 Allsvenskan matches for Djurgården.

DR Congo

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René Makondele has played 273 Allsvenskan matches for Djurgården, Gefle, Helsingborg and Häcken.

Egypt

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England

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Eritrea

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Estonia

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Ethiopia

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Faroe Islands

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Finland

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Markus Halsti has played 112 Allsvenskan matches for Malmö FF.
Daniel Sjölund has played 253 Allsvenskan matches for Djurgården and Åtvidaberg.

France

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Gabon

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Gambia

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Pa Dembo Touray has played 194 Allsvenskan matches for Djurgården.

Georgia

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Germany

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Ghana

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Greece

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Guinea

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Guinea-Bissau

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Haiti

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Honduras

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Hungary

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Iceland

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Hjálmar Jónsson has played 228 Allsvenskan matches for IFK Göteborg.
Rúnar Már Sigurjónsson has played 39 Allsvenskan matches for GIF Sundsvall.

Italy

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Iran

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Iraq

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Ireland

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Israel

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Ivory Coast

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Jamaica

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Japan

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Jordan

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Kazakhstan

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Kenya

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Kosovo

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Latvia

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Lebanon

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Liberia

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Libya

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Lithuania

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Tomas Žvirgždauskas has played 211 Allsvenskan matches for Halmstad.

Luxembourg

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Malawi

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Mali

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Moldova

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Montenegro

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Montserrat

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Morocco

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Netherlands

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New Zealand

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Nigeria

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North Macedonia

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Northern Ireland

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Norway

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Kenneth Høie has played 84 Allsvenskan matches for Elfsborg and Djurgården.

Pakistan

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Palestine

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Panama

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Paraguay

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Peru

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Sergio Peña has played 78 Allsvenskan matches for Malmö FF.

Philippines

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Poland

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Portugal

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Romania

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Russia

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Rwanda

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Scotland

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Senegal

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Serbia

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Sierra Leone

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Alhaji Kamara has played 37 Allsvenskan matches for Djurgården and Norrköping.

Sint Maarten

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Slovakia

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Slovenia

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South Africa

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May Mahlangu has played 118 Allsvenskan matches for Helsingborg and IFK Göteborg.

South Korea

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Spain

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Suriname

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Switzerland

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Syria

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Tanzania

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Togo

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Tunisia

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Turkey

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Uganda

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Ukraine

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United States

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Uruguay

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Zambia

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Zimbabwe

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Nyasha Mushekwi has played 21 Allsvenskan matches for Djurgården.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^
    Born in Algeria
  2. ^
    Born in Azerbaijan (then part of the Soviet Union)
  3. ^
    Born in Belgium
  4. ^
    Born in Bulgaria
  5. ^
    Born in Cameroon
  6. ^
    Born in Denmark
  7. ^
    Born in England
  8. ^
    Born in Spain
  9. ^
    Born in El Salvador
  10. ^
    Born in Finland
  11. ^
    Born in France
  12. ^
    Born in The Gambia
  13. ^
    Born in Germany
  14. ^
    Born in Greece
  15. ^
    Born in Iran
  16. ^
    Born in Iraq
  17. ^
    Born in Israel
  18. ^
    Born in Kenya
  19. ^
    Born in Kosovo (then part of Yugoslavia)
  20. ^
    Born in Saudi Arabia
  21. ^
    Born in Lebanon
  22. ^
    Born in Liberia
  23. ^
    Born in Morocco
  24. ^
  25. ^
    Born in the Netherlands
  26. ^
    Born in Nigeria
  27. ^
    Born in Norway
  28. ^
    Born in Portugal
  29. ^
    Born in Russia (then part of the Soviet Union)
  30. ^
    Born in Scotland
  31. ^
  32. ^
    Born in Serbia (then part of Yugoslavia)
  33. ^
    Born in Switzerland
  34. ^
    Born in Sweden
  35. ^
    Born in Ukraine
  36. ^
    Born in Zaire
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References

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  1. "Individuella rekord — svenskfotboll.se". Archived from the original on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  2. Hellström, John S.; Kendrick, Rhidian (2022). "Utländska spelare i allsvenskan 1974–2021. Globalisering, kommersialisering och migration". Idrott, Historia och Samhälle: 8–23. doi:10.61684/ihs.vi.17800.
  3. 1 2 "Klubbat: Nio avbytare tillåts i allsvenskan". fotbollskanalen.se.
  4. "Ny regel om hemmafostrade spelare kan skapa problem för Kalmar FF". fotbolltransfers.com.
  5. Sjögren, Niklas (26 April 2019). "Utländska fotbollsspelare i Sverige – så ser reglerna ut". SVT Nyheter.