5 Southeast Asian Trailblazers in Europe

Neil Etheridge - First Southeast Asian to play in the Premier League

After receiving his Filipino passport in 2008, London-born goalkeeper Neil Etheridge became the first player from Southeast Asia to play in the Premier League after he turned out for Cardiff City against AFC Bournemouth in the 2018/19 Premier League curtain-raiser.

Etheridge had represented the Philippines in the 2010 AFF Championship and was on the books of Premier League side Fulham by the time he received his Azkals call-up, however he never turned out for the Cottagers' senior side, instead being loaned out to a variety of lower-league clubs. Etheridge then saw himself being chucked to the EFL with stints at Oldham Athletic, Charlton Athletic, Walsall, and Cardiff, finally reaching the Premier League with the last club.

Etheridge would feature in all 38 of Cardiff's Premier League matches as their number one goalie, with his club suffering relegation at the end of the 2018/19 campaign. He would then move to EFL Championship side Birmingham City in 2020/21, staying there for four seasons, before returning to Southeast Asia with Thai giants Buriram United in 2024/25.

Nguyen Quang Hai - First Vietnamese in French football

Nguyen Quang Hai's time at Ligue 2 side Pau FC was quite brief, however he did made history for being the first Vietnamese player to turn out for a French side in July of 2022.

Coming on for Eddy Sylvestre, Quang Hai played for 31 minutes as Pau lost 4-0 away at Guingamp and despite the winger being unable to save his team from a heavy defeat, Quang Hai's name has been etched in the history books with that cameo.

In total Quang Hai made 13 appearances for Pau, most of them off the bench, as well as 7 appearances for Pau's B team down in the fifth tier of French football. Quang Hai also made additional history for being the first Vietnamese to score in French football with his equalizing goal in a 2-2 draw with Rodez FC in October of 2022.

Unfortunately as Pau battled bravely against relegation, Quang Hai's call-up to the Vietnam's national team's absurdly-long training camp meant that he missed out on the business end of the season that saw Pau finish firmly mid-table, and he returned to Vietnam with newly-promoted side Cong An Ha Noi in the summer of 2023, helping the ambitious newcomers to the V.League 1 title that year.

Elkan Baggott - First Indonesian in the EFL

Before you ask, yes Jordi Amat did play in the Premier League before Elkan Baggott even started his career, however he played for Swansea City with a Spanish passport and only got his Indonesian citizenship in 2022, meaning that Elkan holds the honor of being the first Indonesian to play in the top four tiers of English football, specifically within the EFL.

Receiving his Indonesian passport in 2020, Elkan became the first-ever Indonesian to play in the EFL as he started for Ipswich Town in their 1-0 defeat away to Rotherham United in April of 2022. However, Elkan did not partake in Ipswich's subsequent promotion out of League One as he spent the 2022/23 season on loan at League Two side Gillingham, where he became the first Indonesian to score in the EFL with his side's equalizer in a match against Stevenage.

After a brief spell at Cheltenham Town, Elkan made history once again on November of 2023 as he scored the consolation goal in Ipswich's 3-1 defeat at the hands of Premier League side Fulham in the EFL Cup, making him the first Indonesian to not only score in the competition but also score against a side from the top-flight of English football.

Unfortunately Elkan played no further part in Ipswich's promotion out of the Championship in the 2023/24 season as he spent a majority of that season on loan at Bristol Rovers of League One, before going out on loan again to fellow League One side Blackpool the following season, meaning that Elkan missed out on being the first Indonesian to play in the Premier League.

But with Elkan still in the books of Ipswich, we might see him around the Premier League sooner than later, provided that the Tractor Boys do well this season.

Luqman Hakim - First Malaysian to score in Europe

After shining through the famous Mokhtar Dahari Academy and guiding Malaysia to the 2019 AFF U-18 Youth Championship final, Luqman Hakim got his big break in September of 2019, joining Belgian Pro League side Kortrijk who were owned by Malaysian businessman Vincent Tan.

After a brief spell at Selangor's reserve side during the COVID-19 pandemic, Luqman finally went off for Belgium in August of 2020, before scoring in his unofficial debut a month later, helping Kortrijk to a 2-1 win over BX Brussels in a friendly.

Luqman then made his Kortrijk debut as a substitute in a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Anderlecht in October 2020. He spent most of his time in Belgium with Kortrijk's U-21s side to develop himself further, before Icelandic second division side Njarðvík FC came knocking with a loan opportunity for the 2023 season.

It was with Njarðvík that Luqman made history as the first Malaysian to score in Europe, as he helped his side to a 4-1 win over Fjarðabyggð / Leiknir in the round of 16 of that season's Icelandic Cup, with Luqman scoring the final goal in the rout.

Luqman is still on the books of Kortrijk, having spent last season on loan at J.League 3 side YSCC Yokohama after his Icelandic adventure, where his side were relegated after losing the post-season relegation play-offs.

Billy Ketkeophomphone - First Laotian in French football

Born to Laotian refugee parents, Billy made his name known in the top-flight of French football in the 2015-16 season, joining an Angers side who were just promoted to Ligue 1. Playing all 38 games and scoring six goals, Billy became the first player of Southeast Asian decent to play in Ligue 1 as he helped Angers to an impressive 9th placed finish in their first top-flight season in 21 years.

But it was not until 2021, when he was playing for Ligue 2 side Dunkerque, that Billy finally received his Laotian citizenship, becoming the first Laotian to play in the French football pyramid.

Unfortunately, Billy's time with the Laos national team was quite brief, having made his debut in the age of 31 as he only made 6 appearances for the Million Elephants between 2021 and 2022. Having left Liga Super Malaysia side Sri Pahang FC after a brief 4-game spell, Billy retreated to the amateur ranks of French football, where he remained ever since.