Best Ever Premier League XI From Countries Outside of FIFA's Top 50 Rankings
By Ben Carter
The Premier League has grown into the biggest and best division in world football.
So it's no surprise to see the best players from all over the world fighting for a move to England's top flight, where they'll be given the chance to become household names for a generation of fans all over the planet.
But it's not just players from the most successful countries which try to break through in the Premier League. Sometimes, outstanding talents from smaller counties will win the hearts of fans across the country, flying the flag for their specific nation too.
Based off the latest FIFA World Rankings, 90min looks at the best ever Premier League team but only using players who are outside the top 50 countries (at the time of writing).
Goalkeeper & Defenders
Jussi Jääskeläinen (GK) - The Finn (world ranking 58) made 438 Premier League appearances during his 20-year spell in England, making him the 10th most capped foreigner of all time.
Lauren (RB) - During Arsenal's incredible start to the new century, Lauren was one of their underrated stars who always offered something in attack and defence, notably forming an impressive partnership with Freddie Ljungberg. Cameroon are currently ranked 53rd in the world.
Sami Hyypiä (CB) - The second Finn in the team, Hyypiä ended a decade on Merseyside with almost 500 Liverpool appearances to his name, where he helped the club win 13 pieces of silverware. He appeared more time for the club than players like Sir Kenny Dalglish, Phil Thompson and John Barnes.
Kolo Touré (CB) - His 14-year spell in England included stints at Manchester City and Liverpool, but it was his seven years in north London with Arsenal which helped establish Touré as one of the Premier League's all-time greats and an 'Invincible', no less. Toure's Ivory Coast are currently 61st in the world - a far cry from their all-time highest position of 10th in 2013.
Benoît Assou-Ekotto (LB) - The end of Assou-Ekotto's career in England is remembered more prominently these days, but the Cameroonian was a regular for Tottenham Hotspur for just less than a decade, with almost half the appearances in his entire career coming under Harry Redknapp.
Midfielders
Mohamed Salah (RM) - The Egyptian's (world ranking 51st) career in the Premier League actually started in 2014, but it wasn't until he joined Liverpool three years later where fans really started to see just how good Salah could be.
Yaya Touré (CM) - Even after impressing at Barcelona, Touré reached new heights as he established himself as one of the most complete Premier League midfielders ever at Manchester City. He was involved in 129 goals across all competition for the club.
Zoltán Gera (CM) - The former Hungary international (world ranking 52)never got the big move which his performances probably deserved, but Gera made an incredible impact at West Brom and Fulham during his Premier League career.
Yossi Benayoun (LM) - A total of 16 Israeli footballers have played in the Premier League, but no one was able to make an impact quite like Benayoun. He only ever won one major honour during his time in England, which came with Chelsea in the 2013 Europa League. Israel sit way down in 93rd on the current FIFA rankings.
Attackers
Didier Drogba (ST) - The third Ivorian in the XI and one of just 28 players to ever reach 100 Premier League goals, Drogba often saved his goals for the big occasion and he ended up winning 16 pieces of silverware during his career at Chelsea, including four league titles.
Dwight Yorke (ST) - Yorke actually played for five different clubs in the Premier League and most of his appearances came at Aston Villa, but it was with Manchester United where the striker made his biggest impact. The striker's Trinidad and Tobago are ranked way down in 105 out of 210.