Mile Svilar has claimed back-to-back Serie A Best Goalkeeper awards in 2025 and 2026 — yet the AS Roma shot-stopper cannot pull on a national team jersey for a single competitive minute. A five-year-old decision has left one of Europe's finest goalkeepers in an extraordinary international dead end.

How it all began

Born in Antwerp to former Yugoslav international goalkeeper Ratko Svilar, Mile grew up representing Belgium at youth level, turning out for every age group from U16 through U21. That background made him a natural candidate for the senior Red Devils — but a change of heart altered everything.

In September 2021, Svilar accepted a senior call-up from Serbia and appeared for 45 minutes in a friendly victory over Qatar. To make that appearance official, he formally switched his national association with FIFA from Belgium to Serbia.

The door closes

That single friendly cameo became a point of no return. As his career blossomed at Roma, Svilar attempted to re-align himself with Belgium — the country where he was born and where he had built his entire youth career. FIFA's eligibility rules, however, left no room for manoeuvre.

Under the governing body's statutes, a player who has already completed one formal association switch and then played a senior international after turning 21 cannot make a second switch. Svilar was 22 at the time of his Serbia debut, placing him firmly on the wrong side of that rule.

The situation deteriorated further in March 2024, when Svilar declined a call-up from Serbia manager Dragan Stojkovic. That refusal prompted Serbia to shut its doors on him permanently, leaving him with no national team at all.

Legal efforts, no result

Svilar's legal representatives have pressed FIFA for an exception, but football's governing body has held its position and refused to bend the regulations for his case. The result is an unprecedented situation — a 27-year-old at the peak of his powers, starring in one of Europe's most prestigious leagues, but entirely frozen out of international football with no pathway back in sight.