AS Roma's starting goalkeeper, Mile Svilar, finds himself in an international footballing limbo of sorts, despite being one of Europe's best goalkeepers.
The issue at hand is he effectively has no national team to play for.
Having won back-to-back Serie A Best Goalkeeper awards over the last two campaigns, the 27-year-old is excluded from international football due to a FIFA eligibility statute.
The Goalkeeper Without a Country
Svilar's predicament stems from a decision he made five years ago. Born in the Belgian city of Antwerp to former Yugoslav international goalkeeper Ratko Svilar, the player represented Belgium at youth level, from U16 up through U21.
However, in September 2021, Svilar accepted a senior call-up from Serbia and played 45 minutes in a friendly win over Qatar. In order to make that appearance, Svilar officially changed his national allegiance with FIFA from Belgium to Serbia.
That 45-minute outing proved to be a point of no return, though. Since then, his club career has flourished with Roma, and Svilar has sought to return to the Belgian setup.
When he declined a Serbian call-up in March 2024 from manager Dragan Stojkovic, the Serbian national team closed its doors to him once and for all.
Under FIFA's eligibility regulations, a player who has already completed one formal switch of association and subsequently played a senior match after turning 21 cannot switch back - and Svilar was 22 at the time of his Serbia debut.
Despite efforts by Svilar’s legal representatives to navigate the regulations, football’s governing body has maintained its stance, denying any exception for his situation.
Consequently, Svilar remains in an unprecedented international limbo as a star performer in one of Europe’s biggest domestic leagues, but without a country to represent on the international stage.
