List of foreign Liga I players

This is a list of foreign players in the Liga I, which commenced play in 1909. The following players must meet both of the following two criteria:

  1. Have played at least one Liga I game. Players who were signed by Liga I 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, i.e., outside Romania determined by the following:
A player is considered foreign if he is not eligible to play for the national teams of Romania.

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 Romanian players with dual citizenship. Players who played for Romania but came as foreign players (such as István Avar) 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 Romanian parents or moved to Romania at a young age, and those who clearly indicated to have switched their nationality to another nation.

Clubs listed are those that the player has played at least one Liga I game for.

Seasons listed are those that the player has played at least one Liga I game in. Note that seasons, not calendar years, are used. For example, "1992–1995" indicates that the player has played in every season from 1992–1993 to 1994–1995, but not necessarily every calendar year from 1992 to 1995.

In bold: players that have played at least one Liga I game in the current season (2023–2024) and the clubs they've played for. They include players that have subsequently left the club, but do not include current players of a Liga I club that have not played a Liga I game in the current season.

Albania edit

 
Roland Agalliu was the first foreign footballer that arrived in Romania after the 1989 Romanian Revolution.

Algeria edit

 
French-Algerian Billel Omrani won five consecutive Liga I titles with CFR Cluj, also being named the Liga I Foreign Player of the Year in 2019.

Angola edit

Argentina edit

 
Sebastián Dubarbier won two Liga I titles with CFR Cluj and was the first winner of the Liga I Foreign Player of the Year award.
 
Pablo Brandán won the Liga I title with Unirea Urziceni and Viitorul Constanța, also being named the Liga I Foreign Player of the Year in 2009.
 
Emmanuel Culio won six Liga I titles with CFR Cluj.

Armenia edit

Australia edit

 
Joshua Rose is the Australian player with the most games played in Liga I, 113 and they are all for FC Universitatea Craiova.

Austria edit

Azerbaijan edit

Belarus edit

Belgium edit

Benin edit

Bolivia edit

Bosnia and Herzegovina edit

 
Branko Grahovac won the Liga I title with Oțelul Galați.
 
International Mateo Sušić won three consecutive Liga I titles with CFR Cluj.
 
International Daniel Graovac won the Liga I title with CFR Cluj.

Brazil edit

 
Eric de Oliveira won twice the Liga I Foreign Player of the Year award.
 
Juliano Spadacio scored 25 goals in 107 Liga I games for Rapid București and Astra Ploiești.
 
Júnior Morais played in 281 Liga I matches, winning the title with Astra Giurgiu.
 
During his period spent at Astra, William de Amorim managed to win the Liga I title.
 
Rafael Bastos won the Liga I title with CFR Cluj.
 
Adaílton ended his European career with a two-year spell at FC Vaslui scoring 17 goals in 59 Liga I appearances.
 
Yuri Matias won the Liga I title with CFR Cluj.

Bulgaria edit

 
Radoslav Dimitrov appeared in 206 Liga I games for FC Botoșani, CS Universitatea Craiova and Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe.
 
Zhivko Milanov appeared in 104 Liga I games for FC Vaslui.
 
Plamen Iliev played 119 Liga I matches for five teams.

Burkina Faso edit

Burundi edit

Cameroon edit

 
Patrick Ekeng died while playing for Dinamo București in a Liga I game against Viitorul Constanța.

Canada edit

Cape Verde edit

 
Fernando Varela has won two Liga I titles with Steaua București and once the Liga I Foreign Player of the Year award.

Central African Republic edit

Chad edit

Chile edit

Colombia edit

 
Dayro Moreno and Juan Toja played together at Steaua București.

Comoros edit

Congo edit

Congo DR edit

 
Jeremy Bokila had a prolific period in his only season spent at Petrolul Ploiești scoring 16 goals in 32 games.

Costa Rica edit

Croatia edit

 
With 22 goals scored for Rapid București in the 2022–23 Liga I season, Marko Dugandžić earned the top-goalscorer of the season award.
 
Damjan Đoković played for CFR Cluj in two different periods, winning four Liga I titles.

Curaçao edit

Cyprus edit

Czech Republic edit

Denmark edit

Djibouti edit

Egypt edit

El Salvador edit

England edit

Equatorial Guinea edit

Estonia edit

Faroe Islands edit

Finland edit

France edit

 
Nicolas Godemèche with the 2012 Liga I trophy.
 
Cyril Théréau scored 10 goals for Steaua București in his only season in Liga I.

French Guiana edit

Gabon edit

Georgia edit

Germany edit

Ghana edit

 
Nana Boateng won the Liga I title with CFR Cluj.

Greece edit

 
Pantelis Kapetanos has won the Liga I title with CFR Cluj and Steaua București having a total of 48 goals scored in the league.

Guadeloupe edit

Guatemala edit

Guinea edit

Guinea-Bissau edit

Guyana edit

Haiti edit

Honduras edit

Hungary edit

The member of Hungary's Mighty Magyars, Gyula Lóránt (left) and one of the Romanian-Hungarians who represented both Romania and Hungary at International level, József Pecsovszky (right) managed to win the Liga I title in their single season spent together at UTA Arad.

Iceland edit

Iraq edit

Ireland edit

Israel edit

Italy edit

 
Andrea Compagno was named the Liga I Foreign Player of the Year in 2022.
 
Federico Piovaccari scored 10 goals and won the Liga I title in his single season spent at Steaua București.

Ivory Coast edit

 
CFR Cluj was Lacina Traoré's first European club.

Jamaica edit

Japan edit

Jordan edit

Kenya edit

Kosovo edit

Latvia edit

Lebanon edit

Liberia edit

Lithuania edit

 
Giedrius Arlauskis won seven Liga I titles with three different teams: one with each of Unirea Urziceni and Steaua București and five with CFR Cluj.

Madagascar edit

Malawi edit

Malaysia edit

Mali edit

Martinique edit

Mauritania edit

Mauritius edit

Mexico edit

Moldova edit

 
Eugeniu Cebotaru spent seven seasons in Liga I at Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț, Academica Clinceni and Petrolul Ploiești, playing a total 167 games in which he scored 17 goals.

Montenegro edit

 
Vladimir Božović spent five years at Rapid București, playing in 131 Liga I games.

Morocco edit

Mozambique edit

Netherlands edit

New Zealand edit

Nigeria edit

 
Kehinde Fatai started his senior career playing in Romania for Farul Constanța, later playing for Astra Giurgiu and Argeș Pitești, scoring a total of 45 goals in Liga I.

North Macedonia edit

Norway edit

Panama edit

Paraguay edit

Peru edit

Philippines edit

Poland edit

 
Łukasz Szukała won three consecutive Liga I titles with Steaua București and was the Liga I Foreign Player of the Year in 2014.

Portugal edit

 
Mário Camora won six Liga I titles with CFR Cluj and he also gained Romanian citizenship, representing Romania’s national team internationally.
 
Ricardo Cadú won a hat-trick of Liga I titles with CFR Cluj and was the first foreign player that played in over 200 Liga I games.
 
Tony has won two Liga I titles with CFR Cluj.
 
International goalkeeper Beto won the Liga I title in his only season spent at CFR Cluj.
 
Filipe Teixeira played for five different Liga I clubs winning the title with Astra Giurgiu.
 
Geraldo Alves spent the last years of his career playing for three teams in Liga I, winning the title with Astra Giurgiu.
 
Rui Duarte appeared in over 100 Liga I matches for FC Brașov and Rapid București.

Russia edit

Rwanda edit

Saint Lucia edit

Saudi Arabia edit

Scotland edit

Senegal edit

Serbia edit

 
Milan Perendija won the Liga I title with Oțelul Galați.

Sierra Leone edit

Slovakia edit

 
International goalkeeper Dušan Kuciak had a three-year spell in Liga I at FC Vaslui.

Slovenia edit

 
Miha Mevlja made his International debut for Slovenia during his spell at Dinamo București.

South Africa edit

South Korea edit

Spain edit

The twin Oriol brothers Joan (left) and Eduard (right) played together in their short spell at Rapid București.
 
Pablo de Lucas played in over 100 Liga I matches for four different teams.

Sudan edit

Suriname edit

Sweden edit

Switzerland edit

Syria edit

Tajikistan edit

Togo edit

Tunisia edit

Turkey edit

Uganda edit

Ukraine edit

United States edit

Uruguay edit

 
World Cup semi-finalist and Copa América winner Álvaro Pereira spent his first season in Europe at CFR Cluj.

Venezuela edit

Zambia edit

Zimbabwe edit

Notes edit

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    Born in Albania
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    Born in Angola
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    Born in Australia
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    Born in Austria
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    Born in Austria (then part of Austria-Hungary)
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    Born in Belarus (then part of the Soviet Union)
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    Born in Belgium
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    Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of SFR Yugoslavia)
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    Born in Brazil
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    Born in Cameroon
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    Born in Canada
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    Born in Croatia
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    Born in Croatia (then part of SFR Yugoslavia)
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    Born in Germany
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    Born in Ghana
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    Born in Greece
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    Born in Italy
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    Born in Ivory Coast
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    Born in Kosovo (then part of SFR Yugoslavia)
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    Born in Kosovo (then part of FR Yugoslavia)
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    Born in Paraguay
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    Born in Poland
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    Born in Portugal
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    Born in the Réunion
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    Born in Romania
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    Born in Romania (then part of Austria-Hungary)
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    Born in Serbia (then part of SFR Yugoslavia)
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    Born in Serbia (then part of FR Yugoslavia)
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    Born in Slovakia (then part of First Czechoslovak Republic)
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    Born in South Africa
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    Born in Spain
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    Born in Sweden
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    Born in Switzerland
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    Born in Turkey
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    Born in the Uganda
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    Born in the USA
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    Born in West Germany (now part of Germany)
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    Capped for the Belgium national under-20 football team
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    Capped for the Norway national under-15 football team
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    Capped for the Norway national under-16 football team
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External links edit