After Liverpool starlet Ben Woodburn’s goalscoring antics, on his Wales debut on Saturday, some in the England setup are asking what could have been.
The 17-year-old scored the crucial goal against Austria just minutes after coming on as a substitute and Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate was peppered with questions about one who got away.
Despite being born in Chester, Woodburn has been a Welsh international throughout his youth career.
So which other foreign players could have turned out in an England shirt?
Here, talkSPORT takes a look at 14 players that could have worn the Three Lions on their chests, starting with Woodburn.
Scroll through the gallery above to take a look.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Ben Woodburn (Wales) – Liverpool and Wales rising starlet was born in Chester and brought up in Cheshire. However, the 17-year-old qualifies for Wales through his maternal grandmother and decided early on that he would represent them at youth level. He was offered an Under-16 call up by England but turned it down in favour of remaining with the Welsh setup.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Victor Moses (Nigeria) – Though the Chelsea man was born in Lagos, he arrived in England as an 11-year-old after his parents were killed in Nigeria. After settling in South London and joining the Crystal Palace youth academy the then-winger went on to represent England at youth level. He accepted a call-up from Nigeria in 2011 and now has 28 caps for the country of his birth.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Wilfried Zaha (Ivory Coast) – Zaha is unique in this list due to the fact that he has actually played for the England team. The Crystal Palace winger was born in the Ivory Coast but moved to London with his family at the age of four. He played youth football for England and was called up to the senior squad by Roy Hodgson in 2012 and 2013. He gained two caps for England both in friendlies but due to poor form he soon fell out of the England picture and opted to change his allegiance to the country of his birth in 2017. Now that he is suddenly performing again this could be an opportunity missed for the Three Lions.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Simone Perrotta (Italy) – The former Roma midfielder gained 48 caps for Italy and started all of their games as the Azzurri went on to win the 2006 World Cup. But it could have been an entirely different set of circumstances for Perrotta as he was born in Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Wes Morgan (Jamaica) – Nottingham-born Morgan spent ten years with his boyhood club Nottingham Forest before moving to his current club Leicester City in 2012. However, the Premier League-winning captain opted to play for Jamaica in 2013 and has won 30 caps for the country.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Adnan Januzaj (Belgium) – When the Belgian-born midfielder first broke through at Manchester United there was a clamour from a number of countries to acquire his services. Januzaj was born in Brussels but was also eligible for Albania and Kosovo. However, then-England boss Roy Hodgson made it clear the FA were looking into the circumstances as Januzaj could have been eligible for the Three Lions if he had waited three years to become a naturalised citizen. However, the move was also scuppered by the Home Nations agreement that stated players had to have undergone five years of education before the age of 18 to be considered.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Louis Saha (France) – The former Manchester United striker could have been an England international if Sven-Goran Eriksson had his way. The former Three Lions boss attempted to persuade Saha to apply for British citizenship but, in the end, Saha stayed loyal to France and picked up 20 caps between 2004 and 2012.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Lewis Holtby (Germany) – When Tottenham signed the attacking midfielder from Schalke the world was at his feet and a lot was made about his England heritage. Holtby had already made his senior Germany debut in 2010 but he could have turned out for the Three Lions instead as his dad is a die-hard Everton supporter from Liverpool.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Manuel Almunia (Spain) – While it often seems comical that Almunia was once the Arsenal number one it was also under serious consideration from England to get the goalkeeper playing for them. Almunia was said to be open to the idea of obtaining British citizenship in order to be eligible but, in the end, he finished his playing days without ever playing international football.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Steed Malbranque (France) – The former Fulham, Tottenham and Sunderland midfielder was born in Belgium but played for France at youth level. Though he did receive the odd call up to the French senior side he never made an appearance. But due to the fact the player had lived in England for nine years he could have gained British citizenship and been eligible for the Three Lions.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Edu (Brazil) – Edu spent four years at Arsenal between 2001-2005 where he won five major honoursImage may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Carlo Cudicini (Italy) – The Italian goalkeeper spent 12 years in England, playing for Chelsea and Tottenham, and Sven-Goran Eriksson was supposedly interested in bringing the shot stopper into the England fold. However, Cudicini became ineligible after a FIFA rule change in 2010 stipulated players could not play for another team unless they held a passport for that country when they played at junior level for another country.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Mikel Arteta (Spain) – The same rule that prevented Cudicini featuring for England also stopped Mikel Arteta a Spanish youth international from changing allegiance. Though the former Everton and Arsenal midfielder had lived in the country long enough to earn a British passport it wouldnt have changed his eligibility despite the FAs best efforts.Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.Steven N’Zonzi (France) – Sam Allardyce admitted he looked into getting Frenchman NZonzi playing for England during his short spell as national team boss. The Sevilla midfielder was thought to be eligible thanks to his time living in the country when he played for Blackburn and Stoke City. But it turned out that NZonzi had featured in a competitive game for the France Under-21s and was, therefore, unable to change his international allegiance.
