Premier League players at the 2026 World Cup: Which players are MVPs for their countries

Jan Paul van Hecke may well have been Brighton and Hove Albion's most critical player to their 2025-26 Premier League season, but he's just one part of the Nethelrands' hopes of winning the 2026 World Cup this summer. On the flip side is Manchester City's Omar Marmoush, a substitute in the majority of his club's games who joins Mohamed Salah to key the dreams of Egypt for this summer's tournament. MORE — USMNT hopes at the World Cup — how high can they fly? And while Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard are both massive pieces for Norway, they present a 1A/1B situation. There are so many PL players on 2026 World Cup rosters including a host of stars on England, Scotland, Spain, and the Netherlands. Below you'll find a list of the Premier League players set to participate in the World Cup, including some who were on 2025-26 rosters but will not be with their listed teams come next season like Casemiro and Salah. Which Premier League players are keys for their nations’ 2026 World Cup hopes and dreams? To be clear, a strong percentage of PL players at the World Cup are very important to their nations' World Cup hopes, but some have crucial status as perhaps the most important piece of the squad. For example, many of England's contributors like Declan Rice and Marc Guehi are so important to the the Three Lions, yet there's no one bigger than Bayern Munich's Harry Kane. So here, in our humble opinions, are the players who are the key cogs. 5. Josko Gvardiol, Croatia and Man City Gvardiol along with goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic were a huge part of Croatia's run at Qatar 2022, and now Luka Modric is 40, Andrej Kramaric 34, and Ivan Perisic 37. The next generation is now and the 24-year-old Gvardiol is Croatia's key piece. 4. Antoine Semenyo, Ghana and Man City Ghana are 1D-5L in their last six outings and have conceded multiple goals in four of those matches. They may need virtuoso attacking performances to escape the group but maybe it'll be just about piling up goals in their opener against Panama in Toronto. Inaki Williams is a good attacker but Semenyo is their biggest hope to take over a game. 3. Abdukodir Khusanov, Uzbekistan and Man City Fabio Cannavaro leads a team who will be heavy underdogs with a roster heavy on players from their domestic league as well as Iran's top division. The 22-year-old Khusanov is one of their outliers, a strong and athletic back who is the first Uzbek to sign in the Premier League — and for powerful Man City no less. Former Roma and current Istanbul Basaksehir playmaker Eldor Shomurodov is right behind him, but Khusanov is the X-factor. 2. Moises Caicedo, Ecuador and Chelsea Finally, a player who isn't on Man City's books. Moises Caicedo is one of the finest players in the world and he's escaped a nightmare season in Chelsea to help pilot a Tricolor side who have the biggest hopes in their recent World Cup memory. Piero Hincapie, Willian Pacho, and Kendry Paez will carry some storylines but Caicedo has the capability of being the best midfielder in any game. 1. Bruno Guimaraes, Brazil and Newcastle United There are a lot of stars on Brazil including in the midfield, where Casemiro, Lucas Paqueta, Fabinho, and Danilo Santos ply their trade. But one names rises above them and he's as irreplaceable for club as he is for country. Carlo Ancelotti loves a player with Bruno Guimaraes' skill and the Newcastle man will show the world what Magpies fans already know — when he has the best players around him, the whole car goes vroom. Casemiro, Bruno Guimaraes and Dani Alves of Brazil during Brazil National football team traning, before the finale stage of the World Cup 2022 in Qatar, at Juventus Training Center, 16 November 2022, Turin, Italy. (Photo by Nderim Kaceli/LiveMedia/NurPhoto via Getty Images) NurPhoto via Getty Images Premier League players at the 2026 World Cup Nations without a Premier League player at the World Cup: South Africa, South Korea, Qatar, Australia, Curacao, Tunisia, Iran, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Panama Algeria: Rayan Ait-Nouri (Manchester City) Argentina: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Enzo Fernandez (Chelsea), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur), Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool) Austria: Kevin Danso (Tottenham Hotspur) Belgium: Maxim de Cuyper (Brighton), Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa), Leandro Trossard (Arsenal), Jeremy Doku (Manchester City), Senne Lammens (Manchester United), Timothy Castagne (Fulham), Amadou Onana (Aston Villa) Bosnia and Herzegovina: Amir Hadziahmetovic (Hull City) Brazil: Alisson Becker (Liverpool), Gabriel Magalhaes (Arsenal), Casemiro (Manchester United), Bruno Guimaraes (Newcastle United), Matheus Cunha (Manchester United), Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Igor Thiago (Brentford), Rayan (Bournemouth) Canada: Liam Millar (Hull City) Colombia: Daniel Munoz (Crystal Palace), Jefferson Lerma (Crystal Palace) Croatia: Josko Gvardiol (Manchester City), Mateo Kovacic (Manchester City), Ivor Pandur (Hull City) Czechia: Tomas Soucek (West Ham) DR Congo: Aaron Wan-Bissaka (West Ham United), Noah Sadiki (Sunderland), Yoane Wissa (Newcastle United) Ecuador: Moises Caicedo (Chelsea), Nilson Angulo (Sunderland) Egypt: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Omar Marmoush (Manchester City) England: Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Nico O'Reilly (Manchester City), Declan Rice (Arsenal), John Stones (Manchester City), Marc Guehi (Manchester City), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), Reece James (Chelsea), James Trafford (Manchester City) France: Jean-Philippe Mateta (Crystal Palace), Rayan Cherki (Manchester City), Maxence Lacroix (Crystal Palace), Malo Gusto (Chelsea), Lucas Digne (Aston Villa), Ibrahima Konate (Liverpool), William Saliba (Arsenal) Germany: Kai Havertz (Arsenal), Nick Woltemade (Newcastle United), Pascal Gross (Brighton), Florian Wirtz (Liverpool), Malick Thiaw (Newcastle United) Ghana: Antoine Semenyo (Manchester City) Haiti: Wilson Isidor (Sunderland) Ivory Coast: Amad Diallo (Manchester United), Evann Guessand (Crystal Palace), Ibrahim Sangare (Nottingham Forest) Japan: Wataru Endo (Liverpool), Ao Tanaka (Liverpool), Daichi Kamada (Crystal Palace) Mexico: Raul jimenez (Fulham) Morocco: Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United), Chemsdine Talbi (Sunderland), Issa Diopn (Fulham) Netherlands: Bart Verbruggen (Brighton), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool), Cody Gakpo (Liverpool), Mats Wieffer (Brighton), Robin Roefs (Sunderland), Tijjani Reijnders (Manchester City), Jurrien Timber (Arsenal), Nathan Ake (Manchester City), Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton), Justin Kluivert (Bournemouth), Micky van de Ven (Tottenham Hotspur), Brian Brobbey (Sunderland), Crysencio Summerville (West Ham United), Jorrel Hato (Chelsea) New Zealand: Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest) Norway: Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Martin Odegaard (Arsenal), Kristoffer Ajer (Brentford), Sander Berge (Fulham), Jorgen Strand Larsen (Crystal Palace), Oscar Bobb (Fulham) Paraguay: Diego Gomez (Brighton) Portugal: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Matheus Nunes (Manchester City), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Pedro Neto (Chelsea) Scotland: Angus Gunn (Nottingham Forest), Aaron Hickey (Brentford), Andy Robertson (Tottenham Hotspur), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Tyler Fletcher (Manchester United), Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Ben Gannon-Doak (Bournemouth), George Hirst (Ipswich Town), Nathan Patterson (Everton) Senegal: Mamadou Sarr (Chelsea), Idrissa Gueye (Everton), Iliman Ndiaye (Everton), Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham Hotspur), Ismaila Sarr (Crystal Palace), Habib Diarra (Sunderland), El Hajdi Malick Diouf (West Ham United) Spain: David Raya (Arsenal), Mikel Merino (Arsenal), Martin Zubimendi (Arsenal), Marc Cucurella (Chelsea), Yeremy Pino (Crystal Palace), Pedro Porro (Tottenham Hotspur), Rodri (Manchester City) Sweden: Victor Lindelof (Aston Villa), Gabriel Gudmundsson (Leeds United), Lucas Bergvall (Tottenham Hotspur), Alexander Isak (Newcastle), Anthony Elanga (Newcastle United), Yasin Ayari (Brighton) Switzerland: Granit Xhaka (Sunderland), Dan Ndoye (Nottingham Forest), Noah Okafor (Leeds United) Turkiye: Altay Bayindir (Manchester United), Ferdi Kadioglu (Brighton) United States (USMNT): Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United) Uruguay: Manuel Ugarte (Manchester United), Rodrigo Bentancur (Tottenham Hotspur) Uzbekistan: Abdukodir Khusanov (Manchester City)