Heroes in Portugal, Mexico and all over the globe – 10 of Wolverhampton Wanderers’ best performers for their national team
Since our foundation 148 years ago, Wolverhampton Wanderers have been blessed with a plethora of players who have hit stunning heights for their respective national teams. Top goalscorers, World Cup icons and leaders on the pitch, Wolves can boast some of the very best to represent in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. To mix things up, each country appears just once in this list with only national team performance taken into account.
Honourable Mentions
Piecing together a top ten was no easy feat with several players missing out who may upset a few fans but rest assured, no decision was taken lightly. Most notable absentees include:
Romain Saiss – Morocco
Diogo Jota – Portugal
Kenny Miller – Scotland
Andy Gray – Scotland
Adlène Guedioura – Algeria
Oleg Luzhnyi – Ukraine
Denis Irwin – Republic of Ireland
Segundo Castillo – Ecuador
Kaspars Gorkss – Latvia
-
Duckens Nazon – Haiti
2014 – Present
Many of the players in this list are also household names for Wolves fans on top of success for their nation, Duckens Nazon is not one of them. However, the French-born forward is his country’s all-time top goal scorer. His success for his country cannot be downplayed by his stint at Wolves as 43 goals in 70 appearances cements him as one of the best performers in a Haiti shirt. The back end of 2024 saw Nazon find the net nine times in six games in Nations League qualifiers. His finest moment came in Haiti’s Gold Cup campaign where he scored goals against Panama and Honduras to send his team to the knockout stages.
-
Peter McParland – Northern Ireland
1954 – 1962
Peter McParland’s best success at club level came in his decade at Aston Villa before spending a year with Wolves in 1962 and netting 10 goals in his 20 appearances in old gold. McParland is best known for his remarkable campaign in the 1958 World Cup, Northern Ireland’s best performance at a major competition to date. Playing in the ‘outside left’ position, he scored five of Northern Ireland’s six goals at the tournament, including a match-winning brace against Czechoslovakia, which took them to an unlikely World Cup quarter-final. With 10 goals in 34 appearances, had he achieved more national caps, Peter McParland would surely be higher on the list.
-
Wayne Hennessey – Wales
2007 – 2025
The most-capped goalkeeper for his country and part of the iconic Wales team that reached a semi-final at Euro 2016, Wayne Hennessey is forever etched in Welsh footballing history following his retirement earlier this year. At club level, Wolves enjoyed the best years of his career as he became a proven Premier League goalkeeper in his eight seasons at Molineux. Hennessey made 109 appearances for Wales with arguably his best game coming in a crucial qualification match against Ukraine in which he made a record nine saves in their 1-0 win.
-
Seol Ki-Hyeon – South Korea
2000 – 2009
Stealing in ahead of Hwang Hee-chan for a South Korean spot on the list, Seol always raised his performance levels when playing for his nation across four major tournaments. Most often deployed out on the right wing for South Korea, Seol was also versatile in his ability to step in either behind a striker or as a second striker. His greatest career achievement comes for his country as he played an important role in South Korea’s journey all the way to the semi-finals of World Cup 2002. Seol famously scored an 88th minute equaliser against a super Italian team to take the game to extra time which led them to the quarter-finals. The forward finished with 82 appearances and 19 goals for his country.
-
Sami Al-Jaber – Saudi Arabia
1992 – 2006
Sami Al-Jaber was a lethal striker with incredible longevity in his time representing his country. He made 163 appearances and scored 44 goals leaving him second in the all-time standings in both for Saudi Arabia. Al-Jaber spent the entirety of his career playing for Al Hilal apart from a 5-month loan spell at Wolves in which he started a singular EFL match with four other substitute appearances in the First Division in 2000/2001. However, his prolific nature for his country and the numbers he put up give him a deserved spot on this list.
-
Henri Camara – Senegal
1999 – 2008
Regarded as one of Senegal’s best, Henri Camara was part of his country’s amazing run to the quarter finals at the 2002 World Cup. Camara was undoubtedly one of the brightest lights for Senegal in what is still their best outing at a World Cup. Along with El Hadji Diouf and Papa Bouba Diop, Henri Camara contributed greatly to an exhilarating Senegal side. This was captured perfectly against Sweden in an exciting Round of 16 tie where Camara finished brilliantly to equalise and later scored a famous golden goal. Henri Camara made 99 appearances and scored 29 goals, the most goals for Senegal until Sadio Mane overtook him in 2022.
-
Raul Jimenez – Mexico
2013 – Present
One of the finest number nines to grace the Molineux pitch, Raul Jimenez has been a joy to watch for both club and country. Despite being 27 when he arrived in England, his career took off immediately after joining Wolves in 2018 which helped nail down his spot for the national team. Boasting the likes of Hugo Sanchez, Chicharito and Luis Hernandez, Mexico have not been short of world class strikers in their history but Jimenez absolutely belongs among the very best. His ability to bounce back from a life-threatening injury in 2020 is a testament to his fighting nature as a football player and as a man. Raul currently sits third in Mexico’s all time scoring charts on 44, but you wouldn’t put it past him to chase down Chicarito in top spot on 52.
-
Rui Patricio – Portugal
2010 – 2024
In the bronze medal position lays the most difficult decision of the list. Picking between Joao Moutinho and Rui Patricio could’ve gone either way and eventually it went down to one night in Paris in 2016. To say Patricio helped Portugal to overcome France in the 2016 Euros final would be an understatement. A heroic goalkeeping performance with seven saves meant the wait for a major trophy was finally over for Portugal. Patricio is the most-capped goalkeeper for his country with 108 appearances and being the base of a Euros winning and Nations League winning team means he is well worth a third place finish here. Joao Moutinho will have to settle for being the most honourable of mentions.
-
Robbie Keane – Republic of Ireland
1998 – 2016
Robbie Keane’s time in an Ireland shirt is nothing short of outstanding. He leads the all-time appearance list with 146 and a ridiculous 68 goals also makes him his country’s highest ever goalscorer. Robbie Keane is best known for his injury time equaliser against Germany at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. Against all odds, Keane’s late finish stole a valuable group stage point as Ireland would go on to make the knockouts. One of Tottenham’s greatest players but beginning his career at Wolves, Keane had a useful knack of scoring late goals with several coming in the emerald green shirt of Ireland.
-
Billy Wright – England
1946 – 1959
This was the easiest decision to make in this list. Not only is he one of his country’s greatest ever players, but Billy Wright is also one of the most important and influential figures in international footballing history. Born in Ironbridge, Shropshire, Wright spent his entire career at Wolves and not many would argue against the defender being the finest player in his club’s history. Wright was the first player to reach 100 caps for any country when he did so against Scotland in 1959. Billy Wright also holds the most appearances as captain of England, a record he shares with Bobby Moore on 90. Another milestone that almost defies belief is his record 70 consecutive games played for the Three Lions, captaining the side in every single one. Billy Wright finished his international career with 105 appearances which was simply unheard of at the time. How lucky are Wolves that he’s one of our own.
Written by Gabriel Mills
