Leicester City winger Jeffrey Schlupp
It is not only in England that Leicester's remarkable journey has been followed closely. Claudio Ranieri's team includes players from around the world and the team have acquired many new supporters in those countries, whether it is in Ghana, Austria, Denmark or Jamaica.
Algeria: President told Mahrez: thank you for making us proud
On the 25 April, Riyad Mahrez was named PFA Player of the Year, becoming the first African to win the coveted award. Two days later, the president of Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, issued a statement on state television congratulating the winger on his exploits and subsequently thanking him for inspiring Algeria's children and making the country proud. Algerians have followed Leicester's historic run closely. Mahrez's mesmeric play has dominated the front pages of every daily paper. Scores of pedestrians have congregated in front of news stands after weekends for updates as the Foxes inched closer and closer to this most improbable feat.
In the heart of Algiers, throbbing crowds buzz around the main souk adjacent to the Place of Martyrs. Between rolls of precious tissue and fruit stands, football kits hang from wire coat hangers. This year, royal navy Leicester kits are outselling staple counterfeit Real Madrid and Barcelona shirts. Nazim, whose shop is at the foot of the old synagogue, imports his Leicester shirts from Thailand and sells them at 3,200 dinars a pop. He says that Mahrez shirts are in demand and he sells up to a dozen per day.
Maher Mezahi, Algiers
Argentina: Can Ulloa emerge from the shadows of Dybala and Messi?
The exploits of Diego Simeone driving Atlético Madrid to the latter stages of the Champions League or the role of Paulo Dybala in Juventus' fifth consecutive Scudetto are much more interesting to Argentinian media and the football fanatics in this country than Leonardo Ulloa's story as one of the heroes of Leicester.
Maybe that is because he was never considered a star player in the few years he played in the Argentinian first division (31 matches for San Lorenzo, 12 for Arsenal de Sarandí and 14 for Olimpo de Bahía Blanca with a total of nine goals in 57 matches). The fact that he has never played for the national team is perhaps also part of the reason he is not being given huge media coverage, or the fact that he was born in a small town, General Roca, 1,000 kilometres from Buenos Aires. He is still an unknown quantity in his homeland. "I didn't leave Argentina in the best way, pretty much by the back door, to pick up the fight [to succeed] in Spain's second division" he told La Nación, last month.
In the country of Lionel Messi, a lot of Barcelona shirts are being sold on the streets but no Leicester ones, and it is doubtful whether the country's president Mauricio Macri - who was chairman of Boca Juniors in the 1990s - is even aware that an Argentinian striker has played a part in Leicester winning the Premier League. Of course, websites are reporting his goals and Leicester's wins but no one is suggesting that he should join Lionel Messi and Sergio Agüero in La Albiceleste ; although the recent, touching letter of Claudio Ranieri to his players caught the media spotlight over here more than Ulloa's achievements when coming off the bench.
Pablo Vignone, La Nación, Buenos Aires
Austria: Pride at title charge that started in town of Bad Radkersburg
Austrians are a humble people when it comes to football. Not because we are humble by nature, but because football is not a sport we generally excel in. Here we still talk about of the 3-2 'Miracle-of-Cordoba' victory over Germany. That was in 1978. Our most talented players do not stay in the domestic league for too long so we learn to appreciate the small things, such as David Alaba doing well for Bayern Munich. But now we have a new person to cheer and follow in Christian Fuchs, the Austria captain and Leicester City full-back. In fact, we can claim some credit for his team's success this season, as Sportnet.at pointed out: "Leicester City is the big sensation of the football world. The foundation for its success was laid in Austria ... as the season started for them in the South Styrian town of Bad Radkersburg. The team visited the small settlement, population 3,115 from 12-17 June as a part of their pre-season preparations. It was the third time running they had gone there and no wonder that Hotel Park manager Harald Eberhaut is happy for the team. "This is a sensation," he said. "At the beginning I thought, that was a good start, but that it would be over soon. However, they've just carried on."
Few would have thought, at the start of the season, that the 30-year old Fuchs from the small town of Neunkirchen near Vienna would win the Premier League title in his first year playing for the club. Naturally, Austrians started supporting Fuchs and his team as they headed for a historic title. It is a miracle almost as big as Austria winning Euro 2016, and we all know that is not going to happen. Austrians may be humble but they are most certainly proud of Christian Fuchs and the "Miracle of Leicester".
David Müller, Vienna
Denmark: Christmas party in Copenhagen made team even more popular
It took a mix of a fairytale Premier League title and a Danish goalkeeper as an integral part of it finally to knock Christian Eriksen off the throne as Denmark's best player. Well, at least in one of the two main awards. For three years Eriksen has been sitting comfortably on the Danish football throne but in 2015 Kasper Schmeichel won one of the two awards ahead of his international team-mate at Spurs. It showed that Schmeichel's popularity is growing - and at a fast rate. There are other signs too. Leicester were recently featured on the most popular news show, 21 Sondag, on Danmarks Radio, the country's public service broadcaster. 21 Sondag normally focuses on investigative journalism and the big political stories but felt that Leicester's and Schmeichel's extraordinary adventure was a topic worth covering.
Furthermore the newspaper B.T. has had a reporter in Leicester for two weeks now just writing about the city's club and pretty much every Dane - apart from Tottenham Hotspur fans - have been cheering Claudio Ranieri's team on. The team's popularity was also helped by their decision to fly to Copenhagen for their Christmas party in December, with some of the players wearing Ninja Turtles costumes.
Troels Henriksen, Jyllands-Posten, Copenhagen
France: 'It is shocking that no one had noticed Kanté before'
Ligue 1 does not enjoy the same profile in France as the top clubs in the Premier League have in England, so there was something of an unknown quality to N'Golo Kanté to many casual football supporters in the country when he moved to Leicester from Caen at the beginning of the season. It was not until the Foxes had been well established in first place and the Paris-born midfielder had been called for the national squad that people really started to take notice of him. With greater coverage has followed greater notoriety, although his explosion on the field still seems to be regarded with curiosity as opposed to incredible fanfare. Apart from his former sporting director at Caen, Xavier Gravelaine, who told Ouest France last month: "I've watched a lot of Leicester matches and N'Golo is the same there as he was with Caen. The difference is that he's playing in the Premier League. It's shocking that no one's noticed it before. His explosion doesn't surprise me."
On the other hand, Riyad Mahrez's influence in Leicester's title success has been widely celebrated by France's large Algerian community, with his name and number apparently ubiquitous in certain areas.
Of course, the coverage of Leicester has been far in excess of what they would have enjoyed previously. Although the report of their win over Swansea last weekend was squirrelled away at page 20 of L'Equipe, they enjoyed more column inches than Juventus winning the Serie A title.
Robin Bairner, Paris
Germany: Hometown celebrates success of loveable oddity Huth
In Germany, Berlin-born defender Robert Huth has long been seen as a loveable oddity: a born Berliner who never played in the domestic league; a player who looked like he belonged to another era even though he took part in modern German football's sea-change moment; a cult hero, but an imported one. While Huth is fondly remembered by German fans for his role in the "summer fairy tale" of the 2006 World Cup, he was soon discarded in favour of more mobile players like Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng, playing his last game for his country in an insignificant 7-2 friendly against the United Arab Emirates in 2009. A recent in-depth interview in 11 Freunde magazine noted that Huth, who has spent almost half of his life in the UK, appeared to have become "estranged" from his homeland.
Leicester's rise has undoubtedly brought Huth back to the forefront of the national memory, though not quite into the national squad. After Boateng got injured earlier in the year, 80% of users of Sport1 website called for the 31-year-old to be brought back for the Euros. But coach Jögi Löw moved swiftly to quash speculation, explaining that he prefers his teams to play further up the pitch than Leicester.
Philip Oltermann, Berlin
Ghana: Schlupp and Amartey spark curiosity
The Premier League's fans in Ghana are decidedly of the Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs variety; a smattering of Spurs fans and then... nothing. When a Ghanaian signs for an English club, the team may get support based on the player's status - think Asamoah Gyan getting Sunderland a few, while Michael Essien copped Chelsea a large following. If the player is not that huge, say Jordan Ayew, then no can do.
It is just pride that Daniel Amartey, Jeffrey Schlupp and 20-year old Joe Dodoo are from these parts, as former Ghana captain Stephen Appiah told Citi FM: "I believeSchlupp is one of the key players for the team. I'm saying that because he got injured, went out for some months and came back with three games to the end of the season and the coach started him. So that shows you how important he is to the team. For Amartey, I am so happy for him because you join a team like Leicester a couple of months ago and you are going to win a trophy."
Still, Leicester shirts are very, very rare in Ghana. Premier League is so big here that people will watch a lot of it and even take a sneak at Everton v WBA. But sure, there is curiosity about Leicester, especially among fans of Arsenal, and Man City because of their title aspirations. Man Utd and Liverpool fans would watch Foxes games just to cheer them on at the expense of the aforementioned two.
Gary Al-Smith, Super Sport TV, Accra
Italy: Love for gentleman Ranieri comes to the fore
Thank you, Leicester. This story has been the stuff of dreams for Italy, the country of Claudio Ranieri. The English city has been the place where we were able to see a new side to Ranieri: he has always been a gentleman, but he has never been so happy and enthusiastic about his job. Ranieri was way too bothered because the world of football in Italy has always been hard to please. Everyone was touched by seeing him so human at Leicester.
Here in Italy, Leicester has attracted the same interest as the Italian teams, both in newsrooms and among fans. The team has been always on the front page of the major newspapers, always on every fan's social media feeds. If you want to know some curious examples, in a high school in Bergamo all of the male students showed up in class with the football shirts of the players of Leicester, from Vardy to Mahrez.
They had to buy them at crazy prices on eBay months before, since finding Leicester jerseys here in Italy at the moment is really impossible.
As the capital is his birth-place, Roma's fan club dusted off some old scarves dedicated to Claudio Ranieri, who once coached the side, to support him. Everyone is cheering him in Rome, especially in Testaccio, the district where Ranieri was born and raised. He has left amazing memories in his home town. Walter Veltroni, a former mayor of Rome, interviewed Ranieri as a journalist for Corriere dello Sport and said: "Claudio is fantastic!"
There are a lot of bars in which fans gather to cheer on Leicester. A very special fan club for the Foxes was born in Lamezia Terme; meetings were organised on Facebook and took place in city squares from Milan to Florence to cheer their title win. A popular Italian Facebook group (Calciatori Brutti, which means "Ugly football players") decided to organise a road trip from Italy to Leicester by car to celebrate. At the last count, 500 participants were ready to go. All this is for love of the fable called Leicester and for a great coach like Claudio Ranieri. Thank you, Leicester.
Fabrizio Romano, Sky Sports, Milan
Jamaica: Morgan shirts still not in demand - but that could yet change
Wes Morgan may be born in Nottingham but he has 25 caps for Jamaica after qualifying through his grandparents. The reaction to Leicester's success in Jamaica is what we assume it has been anywhere in the world: bemused amusement. While the Premier League dominates the local version for attention, any Leicester "wagonists" are waiting carefully for the title; or perhaps the second title when it comes.
For now Leicester are everyone's second team. Speaking to 35-year-old Richard Currie from Kingston, who sells replica football shirts, his business is still to see an increasing demand for a player who has already captained the Reggae Boyz thanks to his defensive leadership for the Foxes. "Well, I haven't seen an order to date or anyone wearing one," he says. "But then Morgan isn't someone who grew up in Jamaica so perhaps people can't identify with him like local players; but how he defends and his fighting spirit is what people here identify with him and rate him for. Now he has won the title you'll see them come out. We Jamaicans are a proud people and we like to show it!"
The Guardian did find one newly minted Leicester fan, 20-year-old Hakeem Bryan from Spanish Town, who says he has already ordered his replica shirt: "Of course I'm proud of a fellow Jamaican doing wonderful things in [an] area of sport. It's special because of the journey and the struggle." But the name on the back of that shirt? Riyad Mahrez, rather than the uncompromising Jamaican centre-back.
In fact, it is rare to see any Raheem Sterling shirts, despite the fact that he was born in Kingston. But that is partly down to there not being many Manchester City supporters around, though that could change with Pep Guardiola arriving. Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are still the big teams here with Chelsea making some inroads in recent years. Leicester still have a long way to go.
Ross Sheil, Kingston
Japan: The Foxes brought into the wider public conscience
Takarazuka, a short drive from Kobe in western Japan, is famous nationwide for its all-female theatre. Now, one of the city's celebrated sons has played a vital supporting role in perhaps the most astounding tale ever played out on the English football stage. The arrival of Shinji Okazaki this season promoted Leicester City to top billing when J Sports selected which five of the 10 Premier League matches it would broadcast each matchday. At first, this was merely provisional; interest would surely soon wane as it had for Maya Yoshida at Southampton and fans of the five biggest clubs could be guaranteed their customary live coverage again. But ultimately, Japanese viewers have stayed with the Foxes' story right from opening day through to its glorious conclusion.
Leicester's romantic win prompted a host of articles across the specialist sporting press. In a country that has only had professional football for 23 years, and where it is not particularly uncommon for newly promoted sides to challenge for J. League honours, Japan's finest football writers have grappled for the right words to explain just how improbable this achievement has been. The mainstream media tends to focus on the more obvious star quality of Keisuke Honda and AC Milan, but camera-friendly scenes like the win at Manchester City and Okazaki's overhead kick against Newcastle United have gradually brought the Foxes into the wider public conscience. Expect plenty more Leicester features on terrestrial television now the trophy has been claimed.
Ben Mabley, J-Sports, Osaka
Thailand: Vardy can be seen all over Bangkok airport
Leicester City football players are known in Thailand as the "Siamese Foxes" and the club's Thai owner has flown Buddhist monks out to England to bless the stadium, where the Thai king's portrait has also been raised. While Foxes fervour has not completely immersed the south-east Asian country in blue, you can't make it through Bangkok airport without seeing striker Jamie Vardy's face.
The club's owner runs the duty-free company King Power, which has placed video adverts in terminals showing Vardy running around an airport shop in full kit while picking up tax-free gifts. It also sells collectable gift cards with photos of Kasper Schmeichel and Riyad Mahrez.
The club's Thai-language YouTube channel has videos showing the Foxes emblem with "Pride of Thais" underneath. Despite Leicester's unstoppable rise, many in Thailand have stuck to the foreign favourites Manchester United and Liverpool. But there are converts and Leicester's colour is an increasingly common sight around the capital. Official shirts have sold out but there are a few rip-offs at the street stalls.
