England men's senior team's Black players

The England men’s senior team has a proud history of Black players representing the Three Lions.

It started with the debut of Viv Anderson back in November 1978, when he played against Czechoslovakia at Wembley and became the first Black player to be capped at senior level.

Of course, the list could’ve looked different had Jack Leslie played for England back in 1925. A true trailblazer in our game, Leslie scored 137 times for Plymouth Argyle in a 14-year career at Home Park when he was the only Black professional footballer in English football.

In 1925, Jack earned a deserved international call up for England. However, he faced adversity because of the colour of his skin; he was deselected and never played for our country. In 2022, the FA subsequently awarded him with a posthumous honorary cap to recognise his career, his contribution to our game and wider society, and to right this historical wrong.

Along the way, there’s been some significant moments and memories with Luther Blissett opening his England account with a hat-trick against San Marino in 1982 to become the first Black player to score for the senior team.

Paul Ince then became England’s first Black captain, when he led out the team for a game with the USA in June 1993 in Boston. Sadly, Graham Taylor’s team lost that game 2-0 but it was an iconic moment for Ince, who was among 12 Black players given their debut by Taylor in his spell as manager between 1990 and 1993.

And another significant milestone was hit in March 2021, when Ollie Watkins became the 100th Black player to make his debut when he featured in a game against San Marino and he marked the occasion with a goal.

Currently, Ashley Cole holds the honour of being the highest-capped Black player, after making 107 appearances for the Three Lions during his career.

Of course, there was also the milestone of John Charles, who became the first Black player to represent England's youth teams in May 1962 when he scored against Israel in Tel Aviv in a UEFA tournament, a 3-1 win for the Young Lions.

Benjamin Odeje was another trailblazer, and the first Black footballer to represent England schoolboys in March 1971 when the then 15 year old was called up for a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland.

Of all England’s managers since 1978, it was Gareth Southgate’s spell in charge of the team which saw the highest total of debuts for Black players with 32 making their bow between 2017 and 2024. After that, Sven-Göran Eriksson gave 16 debuts while Taylor, Roy Hodgson and Sir Bobby Robson all selected 12 Black players for their first England appearance during their time at the helm.

As of October 2025, the number of Black players to have played for the men’s senior team stood at 120 with Djed Spence’s debut in the September game with Serbia also seeing him become the first Muslim player to represent the Three Lions.

England men’s senior team’s Black players

1. Viv Anderson (936) – v Czechoslovakia, 12 November 1978
2. Laurie Cunningham (938) – v Wales, 23 May 1979
3. Cyrille Regis (955) – v Northern Ireland, 23 February 1982
4. Ricky Hill (958) – v Denmark, 22 September 1982
5. Luther Blissett (960) – v West Germany, 13 October 1982
6. Mark Chamberlain (962) – v Luxembourg, 15 December 1982
7. John Barnes (966) – v Northern Ireland, 28 May 1983
8. Danny Thomas (967) – v Australia, 12 June 1983
9. Brian Stein (975) – v France, 29 February 1984
10. Danny Wallace (994) – v Egypt, 29 January 1986
11. David Rocastle (1004) – v Denmark, 14 September 1988
12. Des Walker (1005) – v Denmark, 14 September 1988
13. Michael Thomas (1009) – v Saudi Arabia, 16 November 1988
14. Paul Parker (1012) – v Albania, 26 April 1989
15. John Fashanu (1014) – v Chile, 23 May 1989
16. Ian Wright (1022) – v Cameroon, 6 February 1991
17. John Salako (1028) - v Australia, 1 June 1991
18. Earl Barrett (1029) – v New Zealand, 3 June 1991
19. Mark Walters (1030) – v New Zealand, 3 June 1991
20. Brian Deane (1031) – v New Zealand, 3 June 1991
21. Gary Charles (1032) – v New Zealand, 8 June 1991
22. Andy Gray (1035) – v Poland, 13 November 1991
23. Tony Daley (1037) – v Poland, 13 November 1991
24. Carlton Palmer (1041) – v CIS, 29 April 1992
25. Keith Curle (1042) – v CIS, 29 April 1992
26. Paul Ince (1044) – v Spain, 9 November 1992
27. Les Ferdinand (1047) – v San Marino, 17 February 1993
28. Andrew Cole (1063) – v Uruguay, 29 March 1995
29. Stan Collymore (1067) – v Japan, 3 June 1995
30. Sol Campbell (1074) – v Hungary, 18 May 1996
31. Ugo Ehiogu (1077) – v China, 23 May 1996
32. David James (1080) – v Mexico, 29 March 1997
33. Rio Ferdinand (1083) – v Cameroon, 15 November 1997
34. Dion Dublin (1085) – v Chile, 11 February 1998
35. Wes Brown (1090) – v Hungary, 28 April 1999
36. Emile Heskey (1094) – v Hungary, 28 April 1999
37. Kieron Dyer (1096) – v Luxembourg, 4 September 1999
38. Chris Powell (1103) – v Spain, 28 February 2001
39. Ashley Cole (1106) – v Albania, 28 March 2001
40. Trevor Sinclair (1112) – v Sweden, 10 November 2001

41. Michael Ricketts (1115) – v Netherlands, 13 February 2002
42. Darius Vassell (1116) – v Netherlands, 13 February 2002
43. Ledley King (1117) – v Italy, 27 March 2002
44. Jermaine Jenas (1123) – v Australia, 12 February 2003
45. Glen Johnson (1128) – v Denmark, 16 November 2003
46. Jermain Defoe (1131) – v Sweden, 31 March 2004
47. Anthony Gardner (1132) – v Sweden, 31 March 2004
48. Shaun Wright-Phillips (1133) – v Ukraine, 18 August 2004
49. Kieran Richardson (1136) – v USA, 28 May 2005
50. Zat Knight (1137) – v USA, 28 May 2005
51. Darren Bent (1141) – v Uruguay, 1 March 2006
52. Theo Walcott (1142) – v Hungary, 30 May 2006
53. Aaron Lennon (1143) – v Jamaica, 3 June 2006
54. Micah Richards (1145) – v Netherlands, 15 November 2006
55. Joleon Lescott (1151) – v Estonia, 13 October 2007
56. Ashley Young (1153) – v Austria, 16 November 2007
57. Gabriel Agbonlahor (1158) – v Germany, 19 November 2008
58. Carlton Cole (1159) – v Spain, 11 February 2009
59. Tom Huddlestone (1161) – v Brazil, 4 November 2009
60. Kieran Gibbs (1165) – v Hungary, 11 August 2010
61. Bobby Zamora (1166) – v Hungary, 11 August 2010
62. Jay Bothroyd (1172) – v France, 17 November 2010
63. Danny Welbeck (1174) – v Ghana, 29 March 2011
64. Chris Smalling (1175) – v Bulgaria, 2 September 2011
65. Kyle Walker (1178) – v Spain, 12 November 2011
66. Daniel Sturridge (1179) – v Sweden, 15 November 2011
67. Fraizer Campbell (1180) – v Netherlands, 29 February 2012
68. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (1181) – v Norway, 26 May 2012
69. Jake Livermore (1186) – v Italy, 15 August 2012
70. Ryan Bertrand (1187) – v Italy, 15 August 2012
71. Steven Caulker (1189) – v Sweden, 14 November 2012
72. Raheem Sterling (1190) – v Sweden, 14 November 2012
73. Wilfried Zaha (1194) – v Sweden, 14 November 2012
74. Andros Townsend (1197) – v Montenegro, 11 October 2012
75. Fabian Delph (1204) – v Norway, 3 September 2014
76. Nathaniel Clyne (1206) – v Slovenia, 15 November 2014
77. Dele Alli (1210) – v Estonia, 9 October 2015
78. Danny Rose (1213) – v Germany, 26 March 2016
79. Marcus Rashford (1215) – v Australia, 27 May 2016
80. Jesse Lingard (1217) – v Malta, 8 October 2016

81. Nathan Redmond (1220) – v Germany, 22 March 2017
82. Kieran Trippier (1222) – v France, 13 June 2017
83. Ruben Loftus-Cheek (1226) – v Germany, 10 November 2017
84. Tammy Abraham (1227) – v Germany, 10 November 2017
85. Joe Gomez (1228) – v Germany, 10 November 2017
86. Dominic Solanke (1230) – v Brazil, 14 November 2017
87. Trent Alexander-Arnold (1233) – v Costa Rica, 7 June 2018
88. Jadon Sancho (1236) – v Croatia, 12 October 2018
89. Nathaniel Chalobah (1237) – v Spain, 15 October 2018
90. Callum Wilson (1239) – v USA, 15 November 2018
91. Callum Hudson-Odoi (1242) – v Czechia, 22 March 2019
92. Tyrone Mings (1244) – v Bulgaria, 14 October 2019
93. Fikayo Tomori (1246) – v Kosovo, 17 November 2019
94. Mason Greenwood (1248) – v Iceland, 5 September 2020
95. Ainsley Maitland-Niles (1252) – v Denmark, 8 September 2020
96. Bukayo Saka (1253) – v Wales, 8 October 2020
97. Dominic Calvert-Lewin (1254) – v Wales, 8 October 2020
98. Reece James (1255) – v Wales, 8 October 2020
99. Jude Bellingham (1258) – v Republic of Ireland, 12 November 2020
100. Ollie Watkins (1259) – v San Marino, 25 March 2021
101. Ben Godfrey (1260) – v Austria, 2 June 2021
102. Kyle Walker-Peters (1267) – v Switzerland, 26 March 2022
103. Marc Guéhi (1268) – v Switzerland, 26 March 2022
104. Tyrick Mitchell (1269) – v Switzerland, 26 March 2022
105. James Justin (1270) – v Hungary, 4 June 2022
106. Ivan Toney (1272) – v Ukraine, 26 March 2023
107. Ebrechi Eze (1273) – v Malta, 16 June 2023
108. Levi Colwill (1274) – v Australia, 13 October 2023
109. Eddie Nketiah (1275) – v Australia, 13 October 2023
110. Rico Lewis (1277) – v North Macedonia, 20 November 2023
111. Ezri Konsa (1279) – v Brazil, 23 March 2024
112. Kobbie Mainoo (1280) – v Brazil, 23 March 2024
113. Morgan Gibbs-White (1283) – v Republic of Ireland, 7 September 2024
114. Angel Gomes (1284) – v Republic of Ireland, 7 September 2024
115. Noni Madueke (1285) – v Finland, 10 September 2024
116. Curtis Jones (1286) – v Greece, 14 November 2024
117. Morgan Rogers (1288) – v Greece, 14 November 2024
118. Myles Lewis-Skelly (1292) – v Albania, 21 March 2025
119. Trevoh Chalobah (1293) – v Senegal, 10 June 2025
120. Djed Spence (1295) – v Serbia, 9 September 2025