Manchester City will have 19 players who last played a club match for them at the 2026 World Cup across North America, a new single-tournament record for one club. The total puts City above every other side in world football and gives them more representatives than any other English club at the event.
England’s four City players
England have four Manchester City players in Thomas Tuchel’s 26-man list, with goalkeeper James Trafford joined by defenders Marc Guehi, Nico O’Reilly and John Stones. That group gives City a strong share of the squad from one country’s camp, and it is one of the clearest signs of how heavily the tournament draws from the club.
Tijjani Reijnders, who is set to represent the Netherlands, is part of the same broad picture. He is one of the City midfielders heading into the World Cup, and his selection adds to a spread that reaches across Europe, Africa and South America’s football rivals.
Portugal, the Netherlands and Croatia
Portugal carry three current Manchester City players in their World Cup line-up: Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Matheus Nunes. Bernardo Silva is leaving Manchester City this summer, so his tournament role comes against the backdrop of a club exit that already changes the shape of City’s representation in the competition.
The Netherlands and Croatia each have two City players. Reijnders and Nathan Ake are in the Dutch side, while Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol are in Croatia’s team. Those pairings matter because they show City’s reach is not concentrated in one nation; it is spread across squads that are expected to play different roles in North America.
City’s wider World Cup spread
Manchester City’s list stretches beyond Europe. Erling Haaland is in Norway’s squad, Omar Marmoush in Egypt’s, Rayan Cherki in France’s, Jeremy Doku in Belgium’s, Rodri in Spain’s, Rayan Ait-Nouri in Algeria’s, Antoine Semenyo in Ghana’s and Abdukodir Khusanov in Uzbekistan’s. City are the most represented club across world football at the tournament, and they also have the highest number of players from any club in English football.
The comparison with previous tournaments shows how far the club has moved. Barcelona were the most represented club at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with 17 players, while City were joint-second with Bayern Munich on 16. In Russia four years before Qatar, City led all clubs with 16, ahead of Real Madrid on 15 and Barcelona on 14.
This time, Manchester City have moved clear of that old ceiling. The total was helped by the expansion from 32 to 48 teams, and it leaves Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain joint-second on 16, Barcelona fourth on 15 and Arsenal fifth on 14. There are 18 teams with 10 or more players who last played club football for them at the tournament, and six of those teams are English clubs.
For clubs and supporters, the practical effect is simple: City’s footprint will be everywhere when the World Cup starts in North America. Players who finished last season out on loan are not included in the count, so the 19 is built from the squad the club actually sent into this tournament cycle, not from fringe names drifting in and out of other teams.
Luka Modric is not part of this City list, but the scale of representation around him adds another layer to a tournament already shaped by club power. Sunderland offer a smaller comparison point: they initially had nine players before defender Lutsharel Geertruida earned a late call-up to the Netherlands squad on Monday, taking them into the same conversation on a smaller scale.
