List of foreign Ligue 1 players: I

This is a list of foreign players in the Ligue 1, which commenced play in 1932. The following players must meet both of the following two criteria:

Have played at least one Ligue 1 game. Players who were signed by Ligue 1 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.
Are considered foreign, i.e., outside France and its dependencies (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion Island or French Polynesia), determined by the following:

A player is considered foreign if he is not eligible to play for the national teams of France.

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. These include French players with dual citizenship. Players who played for France but came as foreign players (such as Miguel Ángel Lauri) are also listed.
If a player has not been capped on international level, his country of birth is used, except those who were born abroad from French parents or moved to France at a young age, and those who clearly indicated to have switched his nationality to another nation.

Clubs listed are those that the player has played at least one Ligue 1 game for.

Seasons listed are those that the player has played at least one Ligue 1 game in. Note that seasons, not calendar years, are used. For example, "1992-95" indicates that the player has played in every season from 1992–93 to 1994–95, but not necessarily every calendar year from 1992 to 1995.

In bold: players still active in Ligue 1 and their respective teams in current season.

Iceland

Thorolfur Beck – Rouen – 1966–67
Arnór Guðjohnsen – Bordeaux – 1990–91
Eiður Guðjohnsen – AS Monaco – 2009–10
Albert Guðmundsson – FC Nancy, RC Paris, Nice – 1947–48, 1949–53
Veigar Páll Gunnarsson – AS Nancy – 2008–09
Hákon Arnar Haraldsson – Lille – 2023–
Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson – Dijon – 2018–20
Kolbeinn Sigþórsson – Nantes – 2015–18
Karl Þórðarson – Laval – 1981–84
Teitur Thordarson – Lens – 1981–83

Iran

Saman Ghoddos – Amiens – 2018–21^{[b SWE]}^{[c SWE]}

Ireland

John Byrne – Le Havre AC – 1988–90^{[b ENG]}
Tony Cascarino – Marseille, AS Nancy – 1996–97, 1998–2000^{[b ENG]}
Tom Davis – FC Metz – 1934–35
Michael Kelly – Marseille – 1948–49
Noel King – Valenciennes FC – 1982–85
Mick McCarthy – Lyon – 1989–90^{[b ENG]}
Jacko McDonagh – Nîmes Olympique – 1985–87
Jake O'Brien – Lyon – 2023–24
Frank Stapleton – Le Havre AC – 1988–89
Bernard Williams – Sochaux – 1932–39, 1945–46

Israel

Eliran Atar – Reims – 2013–15
Tal Banin – Cannes – 1993–94
Eden Ben Basat – Brest, Toulouse – 2011–2014
Ronnie Calderon – Paris FC – 1973–74
Maor Melikson – Valenciennes – 2012–14
Vicky Peretz – Strasbourg – 1980–82
Itay Shechter – Nantes – 2013–15
Giora Spiegel – Strasbourg, Lyon – 1973–78
Mordechai Spiegler – Paris FC, Paris SG – 1972–74^{[b RUS–URS]}
Shalom Tikva – Lens – 1991–92

Italy

Henri Alberto – Lyon, Monaco – 1954–56, 1956–61
Gennaro Luigi Alfano – Toulon – 1983–93
Mario Balotelli – Nice, Marseille – 2016–19
Antonio Barreca – Monaco – 2018–19
Cristian Battocchio – Brest – 2019–21^{[b ARG]}
Raoul Bellanova – Bordeaux – 2019–20
Cesare Benedetti – Marseille, Toulouse FC – 1948–51
Armando Bianchi – Paris SG – 1978–80
Angelo Bollano – Marseille – 1948–50
Gianluigi Buffon – Paris SG – 2018–19
Arturo Calabresi – Amiens – 2019–20
Aridex Calligaris – Saint-Étienne, Lyon – 1945–49, 1951–52
Angelo Contini – Lens – 1950–51
Elpidio Coppa – Rennes – 1948–49
Alessandro Crescenzi – AC Ajaccio – 2013–14
Antoine Curcuru – Marseille – 1935–36
Paolo De Ceglie – Marseille – 2015–16
Morgan De Sanctis – Monaco – 2016–17
Mattia De Sciglio – Lyon – 2020–21
Edmondo Della Valle – Nice – 1932–34
Marco Di Costanzo – Nice, Rennes – 1994–95, 1997–98
Marco Di Vaio – Monaco – 2006–07
Gianluigi Donnarumma – Paris SG – 2021–
Stephan El Shaarawy – Monaco – 2015–16
Emerson – Lyon – 2021–22^{[b BRA]}^{[c BRA U17]}
Felica Farina – Sedan – 1958–59
Paolo Farina – Bastia – 1968–71
Marcello Farrabi – Sedan – 1972–74
Emilio Ferlatti – Béziers – 1957–58
Alessandro Florenzi – Paris SG – 2020–21
Ivan Franceschini – Marseille – 1996–97
Dante Gentini – Nice – 1956–57
Corrado Grossi – Marseille – 1948–49
Fabio Grosso – Lyon – 2007–10
Moise Kean – Paris SG – 2020–21
Pietro Landi – RC Paris, Nice, Troyes – 1949–53, 1954–56
Luigi Lavecchia – Le Mans – 2005–06
Dante Lerda – Cannes – 1938–39, 1945–49
Alberto Malusci – Marseille – 1996–97
Vito Mannone – Monaco, Lorient, Lille – 2020–21, 2022–
Renato Marchiaro – Nice – 1948–49 (or Alès)
Pietro Migliaccio – Marseille – 1946–47
Alberto Molina – Montpellier – 1952–53
Stelvio Molinari – Nice – 1949–50
Thiago Motta – Paris SG – 2011–18^{[b BRA]}^{[c BRA]}^{[c BRA U17]}
Cher Ndour – Paris SG – 2023–
Roberto Onorati – Nice – 1996–97
Joseph Dayo Oshadogan – Monaco – 2003–05
Michele Padovano – Metz – 1999–2000
Christian Panucci – Monaco – 2000–02
Pietro Pellegri – Monaco – 2017–19, 2020–21
Alberto Poli – Angers, Paris SG, Rouen – 1965–68, 1969–75, 1977–78
Ovilio Pratesi – Monaco – 1953–56
Andrea Raggi – Monaco – 2013–19
Fabrizio Ravanelli – Marseille – 1997–2000
Francesco Rier – Nice – 1932–34
Flavio Roma – Monaco – 2001–09
Daniele Rugani – Rennes – 2020–21
Ernesto Sandroni – Rennes – 1951–52
Nello Sbaiz – Saint-Étienne – 1959–67
Alfredo Scapinello – Le Havre – 1961–62
Antonio Scavarini – Marseille – 1948–52
Roberto Serone – Nice – 1949–51
Marco Simone – Paris SG, Monaco, Nice – 1997–2001, 2003–04
Salvatore Sirigu – Paris SG – 2011–16
Alfredo Spadavecchia – Saint-Étienne – 1952–53
Ernesto Tomasi – Nice, Cannes – 1932–33, 1946–47
Denis Tonucci – AC Ajaccio – 2013–14
Stefano Torrisi – Marseille – 2001–02
Primo Vecchies – Stade Français – 1946–47, 1948–49
Giuseppe Verk – SC Nîmes – 1932–33
Marco Verratti – Paris SG – 2012–23
Christian Vieri – Monaco – 2005–06
Mattia Viti – Nice – 2022–23
Aldo Vollono – Antibes – 1933–34
Kelvin Yeboah – Montpellier – 2023–24^{[b GHA]}

References and notes

Books

Barreaud, Marc (1998). Dictionnaire des footballeurs étrangers du championnat professionnel français (1932-1997). L'Harmattan, Paris. ISBN 2-7384-6608-7.
Tamás Dénes; Pál Peterdi; Zoltán Rochy; József Selmeci (1999). Kalandozó magyar labdarúgók. ISBN 963-85967-0-8.