Arsenal and the Teams with the Most Players Headed to the World Cup

The curtain officially came down on the 2025/26 elite European football season on May 30th, and it did so in heartbreaking fashion for Arsenal supporters. The UEFA Champions League final was officially the final game of the campaign, and it was one that Mikel Arteta's men would lose in devastating fashion. 

The Gunners took the lead early on in Budapest through Kai Havertz, only for Ousmane Dembele to equalise for Paris Saint-Germain from the penalty spot deep into the second half. The game would remain tied at 1-1 until the end of 120 minutes of action, with a penalty shootout ultimately deciding the destination of the famed 'Big-Eared' trophy. There, both Eberechi Eze and Gabriel Magalhães missed the target with their spotkicks, ensuring that the trophy headed to the French capital for the second straight year. 

World Cup Beckons 

As painful as that was, there is no time for fans to mourn, as attention has immediately turned to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The action gets underway on June 11th when Mexico welcomes South Africa to the Estadio Azteca in a repeat of the 2010 tournament opener, and from there, an increased number of 48 teams will be whittled down to just two, who will then play out the final at MetLife Stadium on July 19th to determine the champions of the world. 

Online betting sites have had their favourites earmarked for months, and very little has changed in recent weeks. The latest World Cup odds position reigning European champions Spain as the short-priced 11/2 favourites to claim the trophy for the second time, with France (5/1) and England (6/1) both hot on their heels. But with the action poised to get underway, which club teams will see the most of their players in action this summer? Let's take a look. 

Arsenal - 16 

Arsenal will be sending a club record 16 players to North America this summer, edging past the previous record of 15 sent to Germany in 2006. The vast majority of them harbour genuine hopes of winning the tournament. 

England feature a quartet of Gunners, with each of Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze, and Noni Madueke a part of Thomas Tuchel's squad. Three Arsenal stars are included in the favourites Spain's squad, namely David Raya, Martin Zubimendi, and the recently returning Mikel Merino. France's defence features William Saliba, while the two Gabbys — Magalhães and Martinelli — are included in Carlo Ancelotti's Brazil squad. 

Gunners skipper Martin Ødegaard will captain dark horses Norway, while Kai Havertz leads the line for a Germany team looking to return to form. Leandro Trossard will represent a Belgium team looking for a similar response after their group stage exit four years ago, while Jurriën Timber is a crucial cog in a somewhat underrated Netherlands squad. Finally, striker Viktor Gyökeres is Sweden's talisman, while defender Piero Hincapié has a key part to play in Ecuador's golden generation. 

Bayern Munich - 18 

Bayern Munich are one of just two teams sending more players to the World Cup than Arsenal, with a whopping 18 jetting out from Bavaria to North America. The vast majority of them — seven to be precise — form part of a German squad looking to bounce back from back-to-back group stage exits. 

Young stars Jamal Musiala, Lennart Karl, and Aleksandar Pavlović will have a crucial role to play if Die Mannschaft are to return to former glories, as will the experienced trio of Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka — who will leave the club on June 30th — and Jonthan Tah. There is also a return for veteran 40-year-old goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who retired from international duty at the culmination of Euro 2024, only to return at manager Julian Nagelsmann's request in his country's hour of need. 

Two Bayern stars will feature for the second-favourites, France, namely defender Dayot Upamecano and English-born winger Michael Olise. Senegal also has two newly minted Bundesliga champions in their squad, loanee Nicholas Jackson and 18-year-old midfielder Bara Sapoko Ndiaye. The Asian contingent of South Korea and Japan will field Kim Min-jae and Hiroki Itō, respectively, while co-hosts Canada will be led out by captain and talisman Alphonso Davies. 

Austria's Konrad Laimer, Colombia's Luis Diaz, and Croatia's Josip Stanišić all represent Bayern at the club level. But the one man with more expectation than any other on his broad shoulders this summer is England captain Harry Kane, who is tasked with ending 60 long years of English hurt after a spectacular, goal-laden campaign at the Allianz Arena. 

Manchester City - 19 

But no team will have more of its players on international duty this summer than Premier League runners-up Manchester City, who will see a mighty 19 players in action. Four of those are in Tuchel's England squad, with both Marc Guehi and Nico O'Reilly expected to start, while James Trafford and John Stones — who leaves the club June 30th — are both expected to be on the bench. There are then three Blues in a Portugal squad that is looking to give Cristiano Ronaldo the perfect World Cup farewell, namely Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, and Matheus Nunes. 

Croatia and Ghana — two of England's three group stage opponents — will feature Joško Gvardiol, Mateo Kovačić, and Antoine Semenyo, while the prolific Erling Haaland partners Arsenal's Ødegaard with Norway. The Netherlands have two Blues in their squad in Nathan Ake and Tijjani Reijnders, while Jeremy Doku will turn out for their neighbours, Belgium. 

Omar Marmoush will feature for Egypt, Rayan Cherki for France, and Rayan Aït-Nouri for Algeria. Defender Abdukodir Khusanov will lead out Uzbekistan in their debut, while Rodri captains Spain and is considered the most likely man to be lifting the famous golden trophy on July 19th.