This is a list of Malaysia international footballers born outside their country, including naturalised and overseas players with Malaysian ancestry.

Naturalised players

In January 1984, Razali Alias of Singapore became the first

naturalised Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

player in Malaysia. He made his debut for the Malaysia national team in a friendly match against the United Arab Emirates in March 1985. The

Football Association of Malaysia The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM, ms, Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia) is the national governing body of football in Malaysia responsible for organising the Malaysia national football team within the country. The Football Association of ...

(FAM) tried to register him for the

1986 FIFA World Cup qualification The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

, however, FIFA prevented him from participating as he was already capped for Singapore. The second naturalised player in Malaysia was

Ahmad Paijan Ahmad Paijan is a Singaporean football midfielder who played for Singapore. He also played for Tiong Bahru and Terengganu. Career He had successful career with Singaporean sided, Tiong Bahru went he won 5 titles with them. After joined Malaysi ...

of Singapore who received his Malaysian citizenship in late 1995 after 13 years of playing for Terengganu. In late 2018, there have been more necessities to naturalising foreign players to improve Malaysian football performances. Based on three survey polls conducted by the country three local press, two of them recording a majority positive vote over the necessities to acquire foreign players as a local players. As a result, the FAM began submitting a plan to the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

. The plan was welcomed by the country prime minister with the latter also urging local talents to improve in par with the absorption of foreign talents.

List of players

Notes

References

{{EngvarB, date=July 2019 Football in Malaysia Footballers in Malaysia Malaysia Association football player non-biographical articles