Guinea-Bissau: Premier League Nations
Continuing our alphabetical world tour, next up is Guinea-Bissau. One of the smallest African countries by both population and area, Guinea-Bissau is a small nation on the west coast of Africa.
There is currently no option to filter for Bissau-Guinean players on the Premier League’s player stats page, but we believe that only one player has represented Guinea-Bissau in the Premier League. His Premier League spell was brief though, lasting just 20 minutes. Remember him?
First (and only) Player – Mesca (Fulham; 2011-15)
Buomesca Tué Na Bangna, known as Mesca, came to England as a youth player with Chelsea, before joining Fulham in 2011. He remained at Craven Cottage for four years, making a sole Premier League appearance at the home of his former club in 2013.
Mesca was born in Guinea-Bissau but made appearances for Portugal at youth level. He was called up to Guinea-Bissau’s preliminary squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017; their tournament debut, but did not make the final squad.
He left the Cottagers in 2015 when he joined Cypriot side AEL Limassol. He later spent a season in Bulgaria, before returning to Cyprus with Doxa Katokopia. To date, Mesca has not won a senior international cap, though he is still only 26 years of age.
Records
- Most appearances – Mesca (1)
- First appearance – Mesca (Chelsea 2-0 FULHAM, September 21st 2013)
- Most goals – None
- First goal – N/A
Elsewhere
We don’t believe any Bissau-Guinean have featured in the Premier League since Mesca’s cameo, though midfielder Pelé is currently on loan at Championship club Reading and has won 14 caps for Guinea-Bissau.
Trivia
- Having never qualified for an Africa Cup of Nations finals tournament before 2017, Guinea-Bissau have qualified for the last two.
- Guinea-Bissau was part of Portugal until 1973.
- Mesca played just 20 minutes of Premier League football.