200 players currently playing in England will be included in the squad for the 2026 World Cup.
The 2026 World Cup continues to demonstrate the overwhelming influence of English football, with 200 players currently playing for clubs in England participating in the tournament. Following closely behind are Germany with 109 players, France and Spain with 86 each, Italy with 71, Saudi Arabia with 49, the Netherlands with 46, Turkey with 45, the USA with 42, while Brazil and Portugal each have 36 players.
Conversely, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are the two teams with the most players currently playing domestically, with 25 players each. Within the Qatar squad, defender Homam Ahmed is the only player playing abroad, for Cultural Leonesa in Spain, while Saudi Arabian defender Saud Abdulhamid plays for Lens in France.
Notably, Cabo Verde, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Curacao, Senegal, and Uruguay have no players who play for domestic clubs.
43 years old: Craig Gordon becomes the second oldest player in World Cup history.
Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon became the second oldest player ever to participate in the World Cup at the age of 43. The only other player older was Egypt's Essam El Hadary, who participated in the 2018 World Cup at the age of 45.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo will turn 41 when the tournament begins, and if he plays, the Portuguese striker will become the fourth oldest player to ever compete in the World Cup, after Roger Milla, Faryd Mondragon, and El Hadary.
The list of oldest players at the 2026 World Cup also includes Guillermo Ochoa of Mexico, Luka Modric of Croatia, Edin Dzeko of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Manuel Neuer of Germany, and goalkeeper Vozinha of Cabo Verde. All are in their 40s.
At 17 years old, Gilberto Mora is the youngest player in the tournament.
Conversely, Gilberto Mora of Mexico is the youngest player at the 2026 World Cup, at just 17 years old. If he plays, the young talent from Tijuana will become the youngest player from the CONCACAF (North, Central American and Caribbean Football Confederation) region to ever compete in the World Cup.
Notably, his teammate Guillermo Ochoa had already participated in the World Cup before Mora was born. If he features in Mexico's opening match against South Africa, Mora will become the sixth youngest player to ever compete in the World Cup, after Pele, Salomon Olembe, Femi Opabunmi, Samuel Eto'o, and Norman Whiteside.
The next youngest players in the tournament include Hugo Sochurek of the Czech Republic, Lennart Karl of Germany, Ibrahim Mbaye of Senegal and Hamza Abdelkarim of Egypt, all of whom are 18 years old.
22 world champions will participate in the 2026 World Cup.
The 2026 World Cup will feature 22 players who have won the World Cup. Among them, Manuel Neuer won with Germany in 2014, while Ousmane Dembele, Lucas Hernandez, N'Golo Kante, and Kylian Mbappe contributed to France's victory in 2018.
Defending champions Argentina continue to maintain a stable squad as coach Lionel Scaloni retains 17 players who won the 2022 Qatar Cup, notably Lionel Messi, Julian Alvarez, Enzo Fernandez, Alexis Mac Allister, Lautaro Martinez, and Emiliano Martinez.
Nineteen players from Manchester City will participate in the World Cup.
At the club level, Manchester City is the team with the most players, with 19 players from 12 different national teams. Bayern Munich is second with 18 players, followed by Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain with 16 players each, and Barcelona with 15 players.
Al Hilal, Atletico Madrid, Crystal Palace, and Manchester United each contributed 12 players, while Borussia Dortmund, Galatasaray, and Liverpool each had 11 players.
13 goals: Lionel Messi leads the scoring charts at the 2026 World Cup.
Lionel Messi continues to lead the list of top scorers at the 2026 World Cup with 13 goals from previous World Cups. Following him are Kylian Mbappe with 12 goals, and Harry Kane, Neymar, and Cristiano Ronaldo, all with 8 goals.
The World Cup goalscoring record still belongs to Miroslav Klose of Germany with 16 goals.
6 World Cups: Messi and Ronaldo poised to set historical records.
Another historic milestone will be set at this tournament as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Guillermo Ochoa all participate in their sixth World Cup – an unprecedented achievement in history.
Previously, the record for five World Cup appearances belonged to Antonio Carbajal, Lothar Matthaus, Gianluigi Buffon, Rafa Marquez, and Andres Guardado. Meanwhile, Luka Modric, Yuto Nagatomo, and Manuel Neuer will be participating in their fifth World Cup.
2.05m and 1.60m: Two extreme heights at the 2026 World Cup.
Austrian goalkeeper Florian Wiegele, standing at 2.05m tall, has become the tallest player ever to be included in a World Cup squad, surpassing the previous record held by Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert at the 2022 World Cup.
The next tallest players in the tournament are Dan Burn of England, Alvaro Montero of Colombia, and Stjepan Radeljic of Bosnia and Herzegovina – all standing at 2.01m.
Meanwhile, Panama's midfielder Cesar Yanis is the shortest player in the tournament at 1.60m, followed by Jeremy Antonisse of Curacao at 1.64m.
The height difference between Dan Burn and Yanis is as much as 41cm, ahead of England and Panama's upcoming group stage match.
The World Football Federation notes that the largest height difference ever recorded between two opposing players in a World Cup match was 39cm, between Nikola Zigic of Serbia and Montenegro and Bakary Kone of Ivory Coast at the 2006 World Cup.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/world-cup-2026-qua-nhung-con-so-an-tuong-post967850.html
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