World Cup 2022: Here are eight Ghanaian footballers representing other countries at tournament
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is getting closer and closer with just five days to the big kick-off on November 20 in Qatar where the hosts will tackle Ecuador in the opening match.
All 32 participating countries have announced their final squads heading for the biggest football event for the next three weeks.
World’s football governing body FIFA will officially announce and confirm each and every country’s team for the showpiece on Tuesday, November 15.
GHANAsoccernet.com’s African Football Expert, Nuhu Adams gives a list of Ghanaian footballers who will represent other nations during the World Cup.
1.Memphis Depay – Netherlands
First on the list in this article is the FC Barcelona star who will be making his second appearance at the World Cup as a Dutchman. He was present and featured for the Oranjes in the 2014 edition in Brazil.
The 28-year-old was born in the small South Holland village of Moordrecht to a Ghanaian father, Dennis Depay, and a Dutch mother, Cora Schensema.
Memphis made his international debut on 15 October 2013, coming on for Jeremain Lens in the last minute of a 2–0 away win against Turkey at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in World Cup qualification.
He has gone ahead to achieve 81 caps for the Netherlands since then and has scored 42 goals in the process.
2. Nico Williams – Spain
At just 20 and one of the Williams brothers at Athletic Bilbao, Nico has been named in Spain’s final 26-member team for the World Cup in Qatar.
Nico was born in Pamplona, Spain, to Ghanaian parents, who fled to Ghana and then to Spain from the Liberian Civil War.
Having previously represented the European country at youth level, he received his first call-up to the Spain senior team, coached by Luis Enrique, for 2022-23 UEFA Nations League fixtures in September 2022.
The young winger was a second half substitute in the game against Portugal and provided the assist for the only goal in Spain’s 1-0 victory in the match.
Nico’s senior brother Iñaki is representing Ghana at the biggest football tournament.
3. Jeremie Frimpong – Netherlands
The Manchester City academy product was born in the Netherlands and is of Ghanaian descent on his mother’s side and moved to England with his family when he was seven years old making him eligible to play for the Netherlands, Ghana and England.
Frimpong has previously represented the Netherlands at U19, U20 and U21 levels from 2018 to 2021.
The 21-year-old highly-rated defender was surprisingly selected by Louis Van Gaal in the Netherlands final squad list for the 2022 World Cup despite not having any senior experience.
He earned the place for his selection following his outstanding performances for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga and in the UEFA Champions League.
4. Ethan Ampadu – Wales
Ampadu was born in Exeter, England to a Welsh mother and a father of Ghanaian descent. He previously eligible to play for England, Ireland and Ghana internationally.
On 26 May 2017, at just 16 years, Ampadu was called into the Wales senior team ahead of their World Cup qualifier with Serbia.
He was called up again on 1 November for friendlies against France and Panama, and made his debut on 10 November at the Stade de France, coming on as a 63rd minute substitute.
The Chelsea player who is presently on loan at Spezia Calcio made the Wales squad for the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament.
The 22-year-old defender cum defensive midfielder has made the cut in the Dragons squad list for the World Cup in Qatar.
5. Richie Laryea – Canada
The 27-year-old defender was born in Toronto, Canada to Ghanaian parents who were both born in Accra, Ghana.
The versatile player received his first invitation to the senior team on August 26, 2019, for two CONCACAF Nations League matches against Cuba.
Laryea went ahead to make his debut in the first match on September 7, 2019.
On March 25, 2021, Laryea scored his first goal for Canada in a 5-1 win over Bermuda in the team’s first 2022 World Cup qualifying match.
He played 17 games during the World Cup qualifications and scored once and that earned him a place in John Herdman’s final squad for the Qatar World Cup.
6. Jeremy Doku – Belgium
Jeremy Baffour Doku was is of Ghanaian descent and was born in Belgium and has already represented the European country at the U17 level at the 2018 UEFA European 17 Championship.
The 20-year-old who started his career at RSC Anderlecht made his first senior appearance for the Belgian national team in September 2020 against Denmark in the UEFA Nations League.
Three days later, he scored his first international goal for the Red Devils in a 5-1 win against Iceland.
Doku was selected for the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament where he produced impressive performances to land a starting place.
He is listed among the 26 players named by Roberto Martinez for the World Cup in Qatar.
7. Mohammed Muntari – Qatar
The 28-year-old forward is Ghana-born naturalized footballer who will representing the host nation Qatar during the FIFA World Cup.
Muntari was born and bred in Kumasi, Ghana before moving to Qatar in the early stages of his footballing development where he joined El Jaish in 2012 after a spell a ASPIRE Academy.
He was called up to the Qatar national team for the very first time in December 2014. He made his debut on 27 December 2014 in an international friendly against Estonia, scoring his first goal on the same day of his debut.
Muntari has since played 48 matches in total for the Maroon where he has managed to score 13 goals in the process.
8. Yunus Musah – USA
The Valencia attacker was born in the United States to Ghanaian parents, he grew up mostly in Italy and England.
He was a youth international for England before switching allegiance to the United States two years ago.
Musah accepted an invitation to the United States senior soccer team to play in friendlies against Wales and Panama in November.
The teenager made his senior debut on November 11, starting in a scoreless draw against Wales at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea.
Musah has been named in Greg Berhalter’s 26-man selection for the World Cup.
By: Nuhu Adams (@NuhuAdams_
