The Premier League is often billed as the best, richest or most exciting league in the world. Whether it is the best is open to debate but it is almost certainly the richest, and it is also the most global. It is a truly international competition both in terms of its broad appeal to fans all over the world and also in that it features players from just about everywhere too.
So many footballers who ply their trade in the top tier of English football will be representing their nation in Canada, the USA and Mexico. In fact, every single nation, yes, all 48, has some form of Premier League connection. That includes footballers or managers who have appeared in the PL in the past or still do now.
However, let’s narrow our focus to players with very recent Premier League experience. If we look only at footballers who either ended 2025/26 at one of England’s giants or who will begin 2026/27 there, we see there are a whopping 182 “Premier League players” heading to the World Cup. But which club has the most?
Man City Top the Pile (19)
Arsenal won the Premier League title in 2025/26 and their incredible squad depth played a big part in that. The Gunners were widely credited with having the best squad in the top flight, but it is their rivals Manchester City who sent more players to the World Cup.
Pep Guardiola has left the club now but many of the 19 City representatives in North America were signed on his watch. City provided four of Thomas Tuchel’s England squad, with three of those potentially set to start in the back four. John Stones, Marc Guehi and Nico O’Reilly are joined by stopper James Trafford, with Trafford unlikely to make it onto the pitch during the 2026 World Cup, barring injuries or suspensions to the two keepers ahead of him.
Man City will also see multiple members of their Portuguese, Dutch and Croatian contingents in North America. Matheus Nunes, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva will feature, although the latter of those left the Etihad in the summer after 460 appearances for the Cityzens. Nathan Ake and Tijjani Reijnders feature in the Dutch squad, with Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic representing Croatia.
Pep’s former side also have the following players set to take part at this year’s World Cup: Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria), Jeremy Doku (Belgium), Omar Marmoush (Egypt), Rayan Cherki (France), Antoine Semenyo (Ghana), Erling Haaland (Norway), Rodri (Spain), Abdukodir Khusanov (Uzbekistan).
The Man City players at the World Cup are drawn from 11 different countries, spread over Europe, Africa and Asia. That further illustrates just how diverse and international the Premier League is.
Gunners Second (15)
Arsenal won’t mind coming second to City on this list having come out on top where it counts. Mikel Arteta’s squad is packed with class and they may well add one or two more World Cup stars before the 2026/27 Premier League transfer window closes. Based on our current criteria, however, they have 15 players at the World Cup.
As you can see from the following list, England is again the most-represented nation, the Gunners providing Tuchel with four players. The full 15, drawn from nine countries, are:
Leandro Trossard (Belgium), Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Martinelli (both Brazil), Piero Hincapie (Ecuador), Eberechi Eze, Declan Rice, Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka (all England), William Saliba (France), Kai Havertz (Germany), Martin Odegaard (Norway), David Raya, Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Merino (all Spain), Viktor Gyokeres (Sweden).
All PL Teams Represented
All 20 Premier League teams from the 2025/26 season, plus the three newcomers for the campaign ahead, will have at least two players competing in Canada, Mexico and the USA. Ipswich, Hull and Coventry City all have two players, spanning Iraq, Scotland, Croatia, Canada, USA and Ghana. They are likely to be very busy in the transfer market over the summer, so by the time the Premier League begins in August, they will almost certainly all have more World Cup players in their ranks.
Several English teams will see 10 or more of their players taking part in North America. Among them are ones you would expect, such as Chelsea (11), Man United (13), Liverpool (11) and Aston Villa (10), but also Crystal Palace. The Eagles will provide players for Canada, Colombia, England, France, Japan, Morocco, Norway, Senegal, Spain and the USA.
That’s a total of 10 separate countries and 12 players in total. Another team with 12 players at the World Cup is Sunderland. The Black Cats had an unexpectedly superb season last term, finishing seventh to qualify for the Europa League, when most fans expected them to be relegated.
They invested heavily last summer and the new signings paid off; the club was rewarded with an outstanding season and many of the players, in turn, earned a place at the World Cup. Sunderland have three players in the Dutch squad, plus five African players from four different nations.
Overall, the Premier League is incredibly well represented at the 2026 World Cup, but let’s hope that it is the English contingent, spread across 11 PL teams (plus five from outside the UK), that are smiling widest come the 19th of July.
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