Ranking National Teams If They Can Only Pick Players from Their Domestic Leagues

Which international teams would look the strongest if they were only allowed to pick from players playing in their own domestic division? We put the question to the test.

Inspired by the recent Africa Nations Championship, which employs a similar rule to create a type of home nations cup, we crafted national sides using only domestic players—for example, a German national side using only Germans based in the Bundesliga, or a French national side using only French players plying their trade in Ligue 1.

The results are fascinating.

For the top 10 we have selected entire 23-man squads, as if they were going to a tournament, and the names in bold are those who we would project to start. Retired players, such as Gianluigi Buffon, have been brought back for this one-time, show-stopping, fictional event.

15. Belgium

Matz Sels; Dion Cools, Brandon Mechele, Dorian Dessoleil, Sebastien Pocognoli; Anthony Limbombe, Leander Dendoncker, Sven Kums, Edmilson Junior; Hans Vanaken, Aaron Leya Iseka

14. Mexico

Jesus Corona; Edson Alvarez, Hugo Ayala, Nestor Araujo, Jesus Gallardo; Jesus Molina, Jonathan Gonzalez, Rodolfo Pizarro; Javier Aquino, Oribe Peralta, Alan Pulido

13. USA

Zack Steffen; Justin Morrow, Walker Zimmerman, Ike Opara, Greg Garza; Tyler Adams, Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber, Darlington Nagbe, Sacha Kljestan; Jozy Altidore 

12. Russia 

Igor Akinfeev; Mario Fernandes, Georgi Dzhikiya, Viktor Vasin, Fyodor Kudryashov, Konstantin Rausch; Denis Glushakov, Alan Dzagoev, Alexander Golovin; Alexander Kokorin, Fedor Smolov

11. Argentina

Franco Armani; Jose Luis Gomez, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Paolo Goltz, Emmanuel Mas; Enzo Perez, Fernando Belluschi, Ignacio Fernandez; Lautaro Martinez, Dario Benedetto, Cristian Pavon 

Goalkeepers: Vanderlei, Diego Alves, Marcelo Grohe

Defenders: Marcos Rocha, Geromel, Rodrigo Caio, Zeca, Fagner, Henrique, Manoel, Diogo Barbosa

Midfielders: Arthur, Elias, Everton Ribeiro, Dudu, Lucas Lima, Diego, Hernandes, Ramiro, Maycon

Strikers: Luan, Gabriel Barbosa, Fred 

Brazil's squad is made up primarily of 2017's Copa Libertadores stars, with Luan, Lucas Lima, Arthur, Dudu and Zeca the big names featuring.

The blend of defensive, midfield and attacking traits among those players gives the Selecao XI a strong overall look; it doesn't lack in any particular area, with the only obvious deficiency being the absence of a genuine powerhouse like Neymar or Gabriel Jesus.

Goalkeepers: Volkan Demirel, Volkan Babacan, Onur Kivrak

Defenders: Gokhan Gonul, Serdar Aziz, Ugur Demirok, Caner Erkin, Ahmet Calik, Sener Ozbayrakli, Hasan Ali Kaldirim

Midfielders: Mehmet Topal, Ozan Tufan, Emre Belozoglu, Oguzhan Ozyakup, Arda Turan, Gokhan Tore, Tolgay Arslan, Mehmet Ekici, Okay Yokuslu, Selcuk Inan

Strikers: Burak Yilmaz, Mevlut Erdinc, Muhammet Demir

The collective hoovering up of the nation's best by Besiktas, Galatasaray, Fenerbahce (and Istanbul Basaksehir recently!) has stood Turkey in good stead.

Arda Turan's homecoming has emboldened this side's attacking output, and pairing him with Oguzhan Ozyakup is a recipe for success. No Cenk Tosun, who left Turkey for Everton in January, means a role for Burak Yilmaz.

The full-backs are really good, the centre-backs less so.

Goalkeepers: Andriy Pyatov, Denys Boyko, Andriy Lunin

Defenders: Yevhen Khacheridi, Ivan Ordets, Mykola Matviyenko, Bohdan Butko, Yaroslav Rakitskyi, Sergiy Kryvtsov, Oleksandr Karavayev, Mykola Morozyuk, Artem Fedetskyi

Midfielders: Ruslan Rotan, Taras Stepanenko, Denys Harmash, Marlos, Viktor Kovalenko, Serhiy Sydorchuk, Ivan Petrayak, Maksym Malyshev

Strikers: Artem Besyedin, Oleksandr Gladkiy, Yuri Kolomoyets

Like Turkey, Ukraine are perhaps not the first nation you think of when considering this concept, but they benefit from the fact many of their stars play for domestic clubs Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev.

Ruslan Rotan's January move to the latter strengthens the group further—he's the national team's captain, and now he can take his place at the heart of the team—while the defence and midfield are stout.

There are problems up front, though, with all of Ukraine's proven goal-getters playing abroad; Twenty-one-year-old Besyedin, with fewer than 10 caps to his name, will be relied upon.

Goalkeepers: Jeroen Zoet, Sergio Padt, Marco Bizot

Defenders: Joel Veltman, Frenkie De Jong, Matthijs De Ligt, Ridgeciano Haps, Joshua Brenet, Nick Viergever, 

Midfielders: Donny Van De Beek, Marco Van Ginkel, Tonny Vilhena, Steven Berghuis, Justin Kluivert, Brandley Kuwas, Jens Toornstra, Bart Ramselaar, Jorrit Hendrix

Strikers: Luuk De Jong, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Robin van Persie

Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord contribute the entirety of the Netherlands starting XI and most of the depth options too. That should come as no surprise.

De Jong and De Ligt are a promising central defensive pair, with the former offering dynamism moving forward, and the latter a more traditional skill set. Van Ginkel's having a fantastic campaign, Kluivert's breaking out and Kuwas can consider himself unfortunate to miss out on the XI.

Goalkeepers: Rui Patricio, Bruno Varela, Carlos Marafona

Defenders: Ricardo Pereira, Ricardo Ferreira, Andre Pinto, Fabio Coentrao, Eliseu, Ruben Dias, Domingos Duarte, Ricardo Costa

Midfielders: Danilo Pereira, William Carvalho, Pizzi, Gelson Martins, Bruno Fernandes, Rafa Silva, Andre Horta, Francisco Geraldes, Ruben Ribeiro, 

Strikers: Helder Guedes, Daniel Podence, Rui Pedro

Portugal's domestic XI has the same weaknesses the full-strength one does: at centre-back and striker they're light on options.

We've plumped for Guedes over Podence due to good form this season, but the centre-back situation is dire. Ferreira's in despite an injury, and Andre Pinto features despite his lack of minutes at Sporting.

At least the midfield's stacked, the full-backs are strong and the goalkeeper's a reliable presence.

Goalkeepers: Stephane Ruffier, Steve Mandanda, Alphonse Areola

Defenders: Djibril Sidibe, Presnel Kimpembe, Adil Rami, Jordan Amavi, Christophe Jallet, Layvin Kurzawa, Loic Perrin, Jerome Roussillon

Midfielders: Adrien Rabiot, Lucas Tousart, Nabil Fekir, Thomas Lemar, Florian Thauvin, Benjamin Andre, Morgan Sanson, Houssem Aouar

Strikers: Kylian Mbappe, Valere Germain, Alassane Plea

France look weaker when choosing solely from their domestic pool, losing their more established strikers, their No. 1 goalkeeper, all of their top centre-backs and both Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante.

There are plenty of able deputies to call upon, including Ruffier, Rami, Rabiot and Mbappe, so the team is still strong enough to feature in fifth, but this hammers home the reality that Les Bleus' top talents now ply their trade outside of Ligue 1.

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Mattia Perin

Defenders: Alessandro Florenzi, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Mattia De Sciglio, Daniele Rugani, Andrea Barzagli, Andrea Conti

Midfielders: Jorginho, Claudio Marchisio, Giacomo Bonaventura, Lorenzo Insigne, Daniele De Rossi, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Federico Bernardeschi, Domenico Berardi, Antonio Candreva, Stephan El Shaarawy

Strikers: Ciro Immobile, Andrea Belotti, Eder

In welcoming back retired old heads, Italy become strong again on paper. Buffon and Chiellini return to the starting XI, while Barzagli and De Rossi strengthen the bench.

The Azzurri have a problem at left-back, where only De Sciglio can answer the call. That Matteo Darmian is ineligible as he plays outside of Italy will be viewed as a negative to some, but a positive to others.

Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Joe Hart

Defenders: Kyle Walker, John Stones, Phil Jones, Danny Rose, Kieran Trippier, Ryan Bertrand, Gary Cahill, Harry Maguire

Midfielders: Eric Dier, Harry Winks, Dele Alli, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Jordan Henderson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Fabian Delph

Strikers: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Danny Welbeck

England benefit from their players' general aversion to working abroad; not a single one of Gareth Southgate's usual squad plies their trade anywhere other than the Premier League.

In that respect, this exercise became a lot like picking a 23-man squad for the FIFA World Cup 2018. There are few certainties, with perhaps only six spots truly locked down—Walker, Stones, Dier, Alli, Sterling and Kane. 

The Three Lions are short on centre-back options to play alongside Stones, drastically short on central-midfield talent and face a conundrum at goalkeeper...but other than that, they're fine.

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer, Bernd Leno, Ralf Fahrmann

Defenders: Joshua Kimmich, Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, Jonas Hector, Niklas Sule, Matthias Ginter, Marvin Plattenhardt

Midfielders: Sebastian Rudy, Leon Goretzka, Julian Weigl, Marco Reus, Thomas Muller, Mario Gotze, Lars Stindl, Julian Brandt, Max Meyer, Serge Gnabry

Strikers: Timo Werner, Sandro Wagner, Kevin Volland

Germany's domestic XI looks much the same as the one Joachim Low will likely field in Russia, though there are some significant changes in midfield.

Without Toni Kroos, Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil, who all play outside of the Bundesliga, the likes of Sebastian Rudy and Leon Goretzka are brought in to play key roles. Marco Reus' fitness will have to be relied upon, too, though there is strong depth in the form of Julian Brandt and Serge Gnabry.

The back four and goalkeeper are incredible, and Werner has emerged as the striker Die Mannschaft can hang their hat on in tournaments.

Goalkeepers: Kepa Arrizabalaga, Sergio Asenjo, Sergio Rico

Defenders: Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Alvaro Odriozola, Nacho Fernandez, Inigo Martinez

Midfielders: Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Koke, Isco, Marco Asensio, Saul Niguez, Sergi Roberto, Vitolo, Lucas Vazquez

Strikers: Diego Costa, Rodrigo, Iago Aspas, Aritz Aduriz 

Was there any doubt?

You can practically make Spain's actual starting XI ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup from that squad list. Substitute David De Gea, David Silva and perhaps Thiago Alcantara in, and it's the real thing.

The XI is, perhaps predictably, made up of eight Real Madrid or Barcelona players, with Kepa, Koke and Costa finishing things off. Despite the restrictions the quality on show is insane, and the depth trumps all other nations too.