National Eligibility

[Jops14]

Question on this as i've seen it a couple of times now.

I have a player, 18 years old. He's now played in 14 games for Albania, including 6 Euro qualifiers and 5 Nations League games. Yet somehow he is still "eligible" to play for Italy.

How is this possible? Is it because he is U21 and therefore it doesn't matter until he appears in a finals? Never realised how crazy that rule change was

[cris182]

Does it not mean he 'was' eligible? 

[gunner86]

My assumption is it’s down to the detail level of the games, I’m managing England and can still call up players who have caps for Nigeria (10) and Trinidad and Tobago (14), but I can’t view the matches where they’ve played so wondering if the game doesn’t count them?

I’m also getting news articles saying there’s set to be a battle for their allegiance, and I have the option to add them to squads.

[Jops14]

7 hours ago, cris182 said:

Does it not mean he 'was' eligible? 

No he still is, took over Italy as an experiment and can ask him to represent still.

 

I also can view the detail of the games he's played in.

[JordanMilly]

21 hours ago, Jops14 said:

No he still is, took over Italy as an experiment and can ask him to represent still.

 

I also can view the detail of the games he's played in.

"In September 2020, the 70th edition of the FIFA Congress approved a rule change that now allows players to switch if they have played no more than three competitive matches at senior level prior to them turning 21 including appearances in FIFA World Cup finals matches or continental finals (e.g. the UEFA European Championship). However, appearing in a tournament qualifier would not count. Furthermore, players who played for their home country but not at senior level, who were under 21 at the time and have since lived in a new country for five years or more can apply for the right to represent their new place of residence. This also applies to players that began living on the territory before the age of 10 for at least three years."

So yea, because qualifiers don't count as "competitive matches" at senior level, and the Nations League also doesn't count (only World Cup or Continental Championship finals matches count) he is still eligible to represent Italy if he decided to switch.

 

[holidaysong]

This is either a bug or the rules being misunderstood by SI.

These are the rules on changing association after playing in a senior international match;

• i) was fielded in a match in an official competition at “A” international level in any kind of football for his current association;
• ii) at the time of being fielded for his first match in an official competition (at any level) in any kind of football for his current association, he held the nationality of the association which he wishes to represent;
• iii) at the time of being fielded for his last match in an official competition in any kind of football for his current association, he had not turned 21 years old;
• iv) was fielded in no more than three matches at “A” international level in any kind of football for his current association, whether in an official competition or non-official competition:
• v) at least three years have passed since being fielded for his last match at “A” international level in any kind of football for his current association, whether in an official competition or nonofficial competition;
• vi) has never participated in any kind of football at “A” international level in the final tournament of the FIFA World Cup or a final tournament of a confederation competition.

In summary, to change the player has to;

• Have been u-21 when he played in his last official competition match (i.e. not a friendly)
• Played no more than 3 matches in any senior international match (AKA 'A' International) - the recent change here is that previously it was only in friendlies
• Have played zero times in a World cup finals or Euros / Copa America finals

https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/ccab990abf45fcf6/original/ro8mje8vw98yp3rvfbmi-pdf.pdf (See page 31)

 

 

[Jops14]

So you're saying lets say, he played 2 games in WCC and was 18. He could still switch, but the second he plays the 3rd, regardless of age he can't switch.

[holidaysong]

You could play 3 World Cup qualifiers and still switch. But play a 4th game (even a friendly) and you can't switch. 

[Jops14]

Ok great i'm not crazy, either a bug or SI didn't understand the rules