The league phase of the UEFA Champions League brings together not only Europe's strongest clubs but also footballers from all corners of the world. Among this season's participants, Baku-based Sabah stand out with a squad featuring players representing several countries and territories rarely seen in Europe's premier club competition.
Idman.Biz reports that an analysis of the official squad lists of all 36 participants in the 2026/27 Champions League has shown that as many as seven Sabah players are associated with football associations that can be considered "exotic" in the context of the competition.
In this case, the term is used conditionally to describe countries and territories outside UEFA that are represented by no more than two players in this season's Champions League and are not traditionally regarded as major footballing nations with large numbers of players competing in Europe's leading domestic leagues.
The seven Sabah players are Steve Solvet (Guadeloupe), Aden McCarthy (South Africa), Umarali Rakhmonaliev (Uzbekistan), Kahim Parris (Jamaica), Joy-Lance Mickels (Rwanda), Xander Severina (Curaçao) and Orphé Mbina (Gabon). For example, the only other Uzbek representative in this season's Champions League is Manchester City's Abdukodir Khusanov.
A player's footballing affiliation does not always correspond to his citizenship. Mickels, for instance, holds German citizenship and has Rwandan roots. For this reason, the analysis took footballing affiliation into account rather than relying solely on a player's passport.
The clubs closest to Sabah under the selected criterion have three such representatives each. AEK Athens have Honduras international Kervin Arriaga, Mauritania international Aboubakary Koïta and Angola's Zini. Lille's squad includes Paraguay's Orlando Gill, Indonesia international Calvin Verdonk and DR Congo's Ngal'ayel Mukau. Shakhtar Donetsk, meanwhile, have representatives of Tunisia, Venezuela and Burkina Faso in Alaa Ghram, Gleiker Mendoza and Lassina Traoré respectively.
LASK, Galatasaray, Slovan Bratislava and Viking each have two such players. The Austrian club have Daniel Elfadli, who is associated with Libya, and Suriname representative Melayro Bogarde. Galatasaray have Guinea-Bissau's Renato Nhaga and Gabon international Mario Lemina. Norwegian side Viking have two New Zealand representatives, Joe Bell and Gianni Stensness.
Slovan Bratislava deserve particular attention. If the criterion is expanded to include associations represented by no more than three players, the Slovak club would draw level with Sabah in terms of the number of players. Their squad includes two representatives of Panama, two of Gambia, as well as players from Guinea, Angola and Ghana.
Players representing footballing nations rarely seen in the Champions League can also be found at some of Europe's biggest clubs. Manchester City have Uzbekistan international Abdukodir Khusanov, Borussia Dortmund have Guinea striker Serhou Guirassy, while Barcelona have Egyptian Hamza Abdelkarim. PSV's Armando Obispo represents Curaçao, while Porto and Real Betis have players associated with the Dominican Republic.
Sabah will make their league-phase debut today against Manchester United. The match will take place at Old Trafford and kick off at 23:00 Baku time. The Baku club's other opponents are Slavia Prague (October 13, Baku), Borussia Dortmund (October 20, Baku), Viking (November 4, Stavanger), Barcelona (November 25, Baku), Villarreal (December 8, Villarreal), Napoli (January 20, Baku) and Arsenal (January 27, London).
