World Cup squads: Premier League stars heading to Qatar

Brighton have a trio of Ecuadorians, Brentford boast three great Danes and only Bayern Munich are sending more players than Man City’s 16, while ALL 20 Premier League clubs are represented… Your guide to the English-based players heading to the World Cup

Published: 13:00 EST, 16 November 2022 | Updated: 13:02 EST, 16 November 2022

All 20 Premier League clubs will be represented at the World Cup with 30 players from the two Manchester clubs jetting off to Qatar.

The final squads for the 32 competing nations at the tournament were confirmed on Monday, with 134 players from England’s top-flight selected.

Manchester City will supply the most, with 16 members of their squad called up, followed by Manchester United with 14, Chelsea 12 and Tottenham Hotspur 11.

Manchester City will be the best-represented English club at the World Cup, with 16 of their players selected by various nations heading to Qatar

Denmark’s Christian Eriksen (left) and England’s Marcus Rashford are among 14 Manchester United players who have been selected for the World Cup

The final preparations are being made in Qatar with the World Cup set to get underway

Only German giants Bayern Munich – with 17 – have more of their players heading to Qatar than City.

Just six of the 32 nations heading to the Middle East for the World Cup, which begins with Qatar vs Ecuador this Sunday, do so without a Premier League player.

However, four of those countries – Australia, Tunisia, Costa Rica and Canada – have picked players who represent Championship clubs, leaving only the hosts and Saudi Arabia without any English-based footballers.

Gareth Southgate’s 26-man England squad features five City representatives plus three from each of Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United and Newcastle.

Brentford will supply three players to the Denmark squad in Mathias Jensen, Mikkel Damsgaard and Christian Norgaard among the half-dozen from their team heading to the World Cup.

Brighton duo Moses Caicedo (left) and Pervis Estupinan (No 30) will represent Ecuador

Brentford have three Danish players heading to Qatar, including Mathias Jensen (centre) and Christian Norgaard (right)

Clubs with most players heading to Qatar

17 – Bayern Munich

16 – Manchester City, Barcelona

15 – Al-Sadd

14 – Manchester United

13 – Real Madrid

12 – Chelsea, Al-Hilal

11 – Tottenham Hotspur, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Ajax, Atletico Madrid

10 – Arsenal, Sevilla

Brighton have three Ecuador players in Pervis Estupinan, Jeremy Sarmiento and Moises Caicedo in another quirk of the squad selections.

Leicester, meanwhile, have seen three of their Belgians – Wout Faes, Youri Tielemans and Timothy Castagne – picked by Roberto Martinez.

Both of the Manchester clubs will see a trio of Portuguese players head to Qatar – City’s Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva will play alongside United’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot.

Wolves also supply three Portuguese players in Jose Sa, Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes.

Nottingham Forest, meanwhile, are strongly represented in the Wales selection with Wayne Hennessey, Neco Williams and Brennan Johnson all called up by Rob Page.

The 16 international heading to the World Cup from the Etihad Stadium puts them on a par with Barcelona and ahead of the 15 from Al-Sadd, the Qatari club who are effectively their national side as well.

Real Madrid will see 13 of their stars at the finals, while Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Ajax and Atletico Madrid will wave off 11 players this week.

The minimum number of picked players from a single Premier League club is two.

Wolves’ Portuguese pair Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes celebrate a goal this season

Leicester’s Timothy Castagne (middle) and Youri Tielemans (right) will represent Belgium

Bournemouth’s Kieffer Moore and Chris Mepham will be representing Wales, Crystal Palace have Denmark’s Joachim Andersen and Ghana’s Jordan Ayew, while Southampton saw Armel Bella-Kotchap (Germany) and Mohammed Salisu (Ghana) called up.

In all, there are 163 English-based players heading to the World Cup, comprising almost a fifth (19.61 per cent) of all the 832 going.

This includes 29 players from below the Premier League, all from the Championship aside from Chris Gunter (AFC Wimbledon), Matthew Smith (MK Dons), Joe Morrell (Portsmouth) and Jonny Williams (Swindon) – all in the Wales squad.

All the Premier League players heading to the World Cup

Arsenal – 10 players

Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale (England); Matt Turner (United States); William Saliba (France); Takehiro Tomiyasu (Japan); Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Martinelli (Brazil); Granit Xhaka (Switzerland); Thomas Partey (Ghana)

Aston Villa – 4

Emiliano Martinez (Argentina); Matty Cash, Jan Bednarek (Poland); Leander Dendoncker (Belgium)

Bournemouth – 2

Chris Mepham, Kieffer Moore (Wales)

Brentford – 6

Mathias Jensen, Mikkel Damsgaard, Christian Norgaard (Denmark); David Raya (Spain); Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon); Saman Ghoddos (Iran)

Brentford’s Saman Ghoddos (left) is the only English-based player in the Iran squad

Brighton – 8

Pervis Estupinan, Jeremy Sarmiento, Moises Caicedo (Ecuador); Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina); Kaoru Mitoma (Japan); Robert Sanchez (Spain); Leandro Trossard (Belgium); Tariq Lamptey (Ghana)

Chelsea – 12

Edouard Mendy, Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal); Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount, Conor Gallagher (England); Christian Pulisic (United States); Kai Havertz (Germany); Cesar Azpilicueta (Spain); Matej Kovacic (Croatia); Hakim Ziyech (Morocco); Thiago Silva (Brazil); Denis Zakaria (Switzerland)

Crystal Palace – 2

Joachim Andersen (Denmark); Jordan Ayew (Ghana)

Everton – 4

Idrissa Gueye (Senegal); Jordan Pickford, Conor Coady (England); Amadou Onana (Belgium)

Fulham – 6

Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream (United States); Harry Wilson, Daniel James (Wales); Aleksandar Mitrovic (Serbia); Joao Palhinha (Portugal)

Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrovic is proving a major injury headache for Serbia

Leeds United – 3

Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson (United States); Rasmus Kristensen (Denmark)

Leicester City – 7

Nampalys Mendy (Senegal); James Maddison (England); Danny Ward (Wales); Wout Faes, Youri Tielemans, Timothy Castagne (Belgium); Daniel Amartey (Ghana)

Liverpool – 7

Virgil van Dijk (Holland); Jordan Henderson, Trent Alexander-Arnold (England); Ibrahima Konate (France); Alisson, Fabinho (Brazil); Darwin Nunez (Uruguay)

Darwin Nunez enters the World Cup in excellent form after a double for Liverpool against Southampton over the weekend

Manchester City – 16

Nathan Ake (Holland); Kyle Walker, John Stones, Jack Grealish, Kalvin Phillips, Phil Foden (England); Julian Alvarez (Argentina); Ilkay Gundogan (Germany); Rodri, Aymeric Laporte (Spain); Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium); Ederson (Brazil); Manuel Akanji (Switzerland); Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo (Portugal)

Manchester United – 14

Tyrell Malacia (Holland); Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, Marcus Rashford (England); Lisandro Martinez (Argentina); Christian Eriksen (Denmark); Raphael Varane (France); Casemiro, Fred, Antony (Brazil); Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal); Facundo Pellistri (Uruguay)

Newcastle United – 5

Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Callum Wilson (England); Bruno Guimaraes (Brazil); Fabian Schar (Switzerland)

Newcastle’s Fabian Schar (left) is one of several English-based Swiss players

Nottingham Forest – 5

Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal); Wayne Hennessey, Neco Williams, Brennan Johnson (Wales); Remo Freuler (Switzerland)

Southampton – 2

Armel Bella-Kotchap (Germany); Mohammed Salisu (Ghana)

Tottenham Hotspur – 11

Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal); Harry Kane, Eric Dier (England); Ben Davies (Wales); Cristian Romero (Argentina); Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Denmark); Hugo Lloris (France); Ivan Perisic (Croatia); Richarlison (Brazil); Son Heung-min (South Korea); Rodrigo Bentancur (Uruguay)