40 Players who've played International football for 15 years or more
40 footballers that played for their countries for more than 15 years
For every young football mad boy or girl, playing for your country is the ultimate dream.
I know that when I ran around my garden as a child, I often pretended to be Teddy Sheringham, and not just because I was slow, but because he played for England.
I also vividly remember the world cups of the 90’s, the mythical figures on the television being beamed into our living rooms. The bright and vivid yellow of Brazil, the powerful Blue of Italy and the tragic and desperate white of England.
Nowadays international call-ups seem to come easily to most Premier League-level players. There are very few who start for a Premier League side that have not represented their country. To keep playing for your country, year on year however is a different matter. To play in multiple tournaments and qualify for those every 2 years is very difficult. Not only remaining injury free but also being able to balance club commitments as well.
With this in mind, what must it take for a player to play international football for more than a decade? To play hundreds of games all over the world, and see managers come and go and teammates change on a yearly basis.
The Football Nostalgia group on Facebook has put together a list of players that have managed to play for 15 years or more for their countries. A remarkable feat of longevity no doubt, but also keeping standards that high for that long, that’s the most admirable part about it.
So, here are the iron horses of the football world. We will elaborate on a few of them where we can! The number of caps is correct at the time of writing, we’ll try and keep it that way at the time you are reading! There may be more… we will ADD to them!
Ildefons Lima, Andorra:
He’s the one on the left.
1997-Present
Caps: 127
Goals: 11
Stanley Matthews, England:
Matthews played his first game for England in 1934, and his last in 1957, but only amassed 54 appearances. The second World War stopped Matthews playing for England in his prime.
1934-1957
Caps: 54
Goals: 11
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal:
He’ll keep playing for a while yet… the best athlete to have ever played the game, and one of only 28 players to have scored more than 500 goals. He was also the talisman and driving behind Portugal’s 2016 European Championship win!
Like that Juventus shirt?
2003-Present
Caps: 170
Goals: 102
Dragan Stojković, Yugoslavia:
Recently (Jan 2020) left his position as manager of Guangzhou R&F
1984-2001
Caps: 84
Goals: 15
Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine:
Spectacular at Kyiv with Rebrov, wonderful at Milan, not so good at Chelsea.
1995-2012
Caps: 111
Goals: 48
Zoltán Gera, Hungary:
2002-2017
Caps: 97
Goals: 26
Andy Selva, San Marino:
1998-2016
Caps: 74
Goals: 8
Goran Pandev, North Macedonia:
2001-Present
Caps: 108
Goals: 34
Shota Arveladze, Georgia:
Scottish Football fans will remember him from his time at Rangers.
1992-2007
Caps: 61
Goals: 26
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden:
Zlatan. Known simply by his first name.
2001-2016
Caps: 116
Goals: 62
John Charles, Wales:
‘Big John’ was one of the first exports from Britain, and played in Italy for Juventus for 5 years, scoring over a hundred goals.
1950-1965
Caps: 38
Goals: 15
Arnór Guðjohnsen, Iceland:
1979-1997
Caps: 73
Goals: 14
Mario Frick, Liechtenstein:
Not to be confused with his name sake who was head of government for Liechtenstein.
1993-2015
Caps: 125
Goals: 16
Jari Litmanen, Finland:
An amazing number of caps considering he has a pretty extensive set of injuries throughout his career.
1989-2010
Caps: 137
Goals: 32
Eidor Gudjonsen, Iceland:
1996-2016
Caps: 88
Goals: 26
Hossam Hassan, Egypt:
Egypt’s all-time goalscorer with 69 goals… he even looks like a Pharaoh! He is one of the Top 5 greatest Egyptian players of all-time.
1985-2006
Caps: 176
Goals: 69
Uwe Seeler, West Germany:
1954-1970
Caps: 72
Goals: 43
Tomas Rosicky, Czech Republic:
2000-2016
Caps: 105
Goals: 23
Ryan Giggs, Wales:
He scores with whoever he wants, but doesn’t make our list of the greatest Welsh players of all-time.
1991-2007
Caps: 64
Goals: 12
Mark Hughes, Wales:
Man U legend, did OK managing Man City when they first got all their wedge.
1984-1999
Caps: 72
Goals: 16
Denis Law, Scotland:
A good read on Dennis Law, and a clear candidate for one of the best Scottish players of all time.
1958-1974
Caps: 55
Goals: 30
Robbie Keane, Republic Of Ireland:
1998-2016
Caps: 146
Goals: 68
Maris Verpakovskis, Latvia:
Try commentating on this guy scoring after you’ve had a few sherbets!
1999-2014
Caps: 104
Goals: 29
Kenny Dalglish, Scotland:
King Kenny is a happy man now Liverpool have finally won the league again! He is also one of the greatest Scottish players of all-time.
1971-1986
Caps: 102
Goals: 30
David O'Leary, Republic Of Ireland:
1976-1993
Caps: 68
Goals: 1
Michael Mifsud, Malta:
2000-Present
Caps: 142
Goals: 41
Lothar Matthaus, Germany:
The best playboy German captain of them all! He has some great stories!.
1980-2000
Caps: 150
Goals: 23
Guiseppe Bergomi, Italy:
He looks pretty mean here but I’m told actually he is a very nice guy!
1982-1998
Caps: 81
Goals: 6
Luis Figo, Portugal:
Pig headed, but quite brilliant winger who crossed the divide from Barca to Real Madrid.
1991-2006
Caps: 127
Goals: 32
Wesley Sneijder, Netherlands:
I felt that although a very good player, one of the best on his day, he could have done so much more.
2003-2018
Caps: 134
Goals: 31
Kim Kallstrom, Sweden:
Football Manager favourite from the 2000's. Was a bit of a wonderkid!
2001-2016
Caps: 131
Goals: 16
Niclas Alexandersson, Sweden:
1993-2008
Caps: 109
Goals: 7
Michael Laudrup, Denmark:
This guy was a seriously good player, who also played for both of the Spanish Giants. Imperious on the ball and won the European Championship with Denmark in 1992!. read our Career profile of Michael Laudrup here.
1982-1998
Caps: 104
Goals: 37
Gheorge Hagi, Romania:
One of those players that when you knew he was playing, you just really looked forward to watching. Not many like than anymore!
1983-2000
Caps: 124
Goals: 35
Cafu, Brazil:
1990-2006
Caps: 142
Goals: 4
Diego Maradona, Argentina:
There aren’t enough plaudits, famously won the World Cup with Argentina in 1986.
1977-1994
Caps: 91
Goals: 34
Samuel Eto'o, Cameroon:
Did his best work for Mallorca, Barcelona and Inter before cashing in heavily in Russia, Turkey and Qatar. Without a doubt, he is Cameroon’s greatest player.
1997-2014
Caps: 118
Goals: 56
Lionel Messi, Argentina:
The greatest of all, but will likely never taste international success with Argentina.
2005-Present
Caps: 138
Goals: 70
Sergio Ramos, Spain:
You might not like him, but he’s half-decent, part of the famous Spain team that won the 2010 World Cup, and 2 x Euros.
2005-Present
Caps: 170
Goals: 21
Henrik Larsson, Sweden:
Underrated as one of the best in Europe as he stayed at Celtic too long. He proved in the end though why he was so highly thought of and is one of the Greatest Swedish players of all-time.
1993-2009
Caps: 106
Goals: 37
Ricardo Quaresma, Portgual:
Bad boy for life, but mad talented, and still going!
2003-PRESENT
Caps: 80
Goals: 10
