When the 2022 World Cup begins in Qatar, some of the biggest leagues around the world will be forced to pause given the large crop of international players they’ll be losing to the tournament.
Expectedly, the top five European leagues will be hit hardest with over 100 players having been called up by their national teams.
But is the Premier League the most represented league at the World Cup? And which other competitions around the world make up the top 10 divisions with the most players at the tournament?
Leagues with most players at World Cup 2022
Just like at the previous World Cup in 2018, the Premier League is the most well-represented league at the 2022 tournament.
With 136 players being called up to their respective international squads, it perhaps underlines why many describe it as the best league in the world.
Interestingly, outside the traditional top five Europeans leagues — the Premier League, Italy’s Serie A, Spain’s La Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga, and France’s Ligue 1 — MLS has the largest representation at the 2022 tournament with 36 players from the league turning out for various international sides.
| League | Country | Number of players |
| Premier League | England | 136 |
| La Liga | Spain | 83 |
| Bundesliga | Germany | 76 |
| Serie A | Italy | 68 |
| Ligue 1 | France | 54 |
| MLS | USA | 36 |
| Saudi Pro League | Saudi Arabia | 33 |
| Qatar Stars League | Qatar | 33 |
| EFL Championship | England | 26 |
| Liga MX | Mexico | 23 |
Premier League players at World Cup
Below is a list of all the players that are heading to the 2022 World Cup who play for Premier League sides.
Manchester City are the Premier League team with the most internationals heading to the tournament, whilst they also make up a sizeable amount of the England squad as they’re home to five England internationals, the most of any side.
| Club | Number of players | Names of players |
|
Bournemouth |
2 |
Chris Mepham (Wales) |
| Arsenal | 10 | Gabriel Jesus (Brazil) Gabriel Martinelli (Brazil) Ben White (England) Aaron Ramsdale (England) Bukayo Saka (England) William Saliba (France) Thomas Partey (Ghana) Takehiro Tomiyasu (Japan) Granit Xhaka (Switzerland) Matt Turner (USA) |
| Aston Villa | 4 | Emiliano Martinez (Argentina) Leander Dendoncker (Belgium) Matty Cash (Poland) Jan Bednarek (Poland) |
| Brentford | 6 | Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon) Mikkel Damsgaard (Denmark) Mathias Jensen (Denmark) Christian Norgaard (Denmark) Saman Ghoddos (Iran) David Raya (Spain) |
| Brighton | 8 | Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina) Leandro Trossard (Belgium) Moises Caicedo (Ecuador) Pervis Estupinan (Ecuador) Jeremy Sarmiento (Ecuador) Tariq Lamptey (Ghana) Kaoru Mitoma (Japan) Robert Sanchez (Spain) |
| Chelsea | 12 | Thiago Silva (Brazil) Mateo Kovacic (Croatia) Conor Gallagher (England) Mason Mount (England) Raheem Sterling (England) Kai Havertz (Germany) Hakim Ziyech (Morocco) Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal) Edouard Mendy (Senegal) Cesar Azpilicueta (Spain) Denis Zakaria (Switzerland) Christian Pulisic (USA) Ethan Ampadu (Wales) is on loan at Spezia. |
| Crystal Palace | 2 | Joachim Anderson (Denmark) Jordan Ayew (Ghana) |
| Everton | 4 | Amadou Onana (Belgium) Conor Coady (England) Jordan Pickford (England) Idrissa Gueye (Senegal) |
| Fulham | 6 | Joao Palhinha (Portugal) Aleksandar Mitrovic (Serbia) Tim Ream (USA) Antonee Robinson (USA) Daniel James (Wales) Harry Wilson (Wales) |
| Leeds United | 3 | Rasmus Kristensen (Denmark) Brenden Aaronson (USA) Tyler Adams (USA) |
| Leicester City | 7 | Timothy Castagne (Belgium) Wout Faes (Belgium) Youri Tielemans (Belgium) James Maddison (England) Daniel Amartey (Ghana) Nampalys Mendy (Senegal) Danny Ward (Wales) |
| Liverpool | 7 | Alisson (Brazil) Fabinho (Brazil) Trent Alexander-Arnold (England) Jordan Henderson (England) Ibrahima Konate (France) Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands) Darwin Nunez (Uruguay) |
| Manchester City | 16 | Julian Alvarez (Argentina) Ederson (Brazil) Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium) Phil Foden (England) Jack Grealish (England) Kalvin Phillips (England) John Stones (England) Kyle Walker (England) Ilkay Gundogan (Germany) Nathan Ake (Netherlands) Joao Cancelo (Portugal) Ruben Dias (Portugal) Bernardo Silva (Portugal) Aymeric Laporte (Spain) Rodri (Spain) Manuel Akanji (Switzerland) |
| Manchester United | 14 | Lisandro Martinez (Argentina) Antony (Brazil) Casemiro (Brazil) Fred (Brazil) Christian Eriksen (Denmark) Harry Maguire (England) Marcus Rashford (England) Luke Shaw (England) Raphael Varane (France) Tyrell Malacia (Netherlands) Diogo Dalot (Portugal) Bruno Fernandes (Portugal) Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) Facundo Pellestri (Uruguay) |
| Newcastle United | 5 | Bruno Guimaraes (Brazil) Nick Pope (England) Kieran Trippier (England) Callum Wilson (England) Fabian Schar (Switzerland) |
| Nottingham Forest | 5 | Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal) Remo Freuler (Switzerland) Wayne Hennessey (Wales) Brennan Johnson (Wales) Neco Williams (Wales) |
| Southampton | 2 | Armel Bella-Kotchap (Germany) Mohammed Salisu (Ghana) |
| Tottenham | 11 | Cristian Romero (Argentina) Richarlison (Brazil) Ivan Perisic (Croatia) Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Denmark) Eric Dier (England) Harry Kane (England) Hugo Lloris (France) Pape Sarr (Senegal) Son Heung-min (South Korea) Rodrigo Bentancur (Uruguay) Ben Davies (Wales) |
| West Ham | 5 | Lucas Paqueta (Brazil) Declan Rice (England) Alphonse Areola (France) Thilo Kehrer (Germany) Nayef Aguerd (Morocco) |
| Wolves | 5 | Raul Jimenez (Mexico) Ruben Neves (Portugal) Matheus Nunes (Portugal) Jose Sa (Portugal) Hwang Hee-chan (South Korea) |
MORE: World Cup squads 2022: All 32 official national team rosters for FIFA men’s tournament in Qatar
La Liga players at World Cup
Following on from the Premier League, La Liga has the second-most representatives heading to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Of the teams, Barcelona have the most players with 16, seven of which turn out for Spain.
| Club | Number of players | Name of players |
| Athletic Bilbao | 2 | Inaki Williams (Ghana) Nico Williams (Spain) |
| Atletico Madrid | 11 | Nahuel Molina (Argentina) Rodrigo De Paul (Argentina) Yannick Carrasco (Belgium) Axel Witsel (Belgium) Ivo Grbic (Croatia) Antoine Griezmann (France) Joao Felix (Portugal) Koke (Spain) Marcos Llorente (Spain) Alvaro Morata (Spain) Jose Gimenez (Uruguay) |
| Barcelona | 16 | Raphinha (Brazil) Andreas Christensen (Denmark) Ousmane Dembele (France) Jules Kounde (France) Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany) Frenkie de Jong (Netherlands) Memphis Depay (Netherlands) Robert Lewandowski (Poland) Jordi Alba (Spain) Sergio Busquets (Spain) Ansu Fati (Spain) Eric Garcia (Spain) Gavi (Spain) Pedro (Spain) Ferran Torres (Spain) Ronald Araujo (Uruguay) |
| Cadiz | 1 | Awer Mabil (Australia) |
| Celta Vigo | 2 | Joseph Aidoo (Ghana) Luca de la Torre (USA) |
| Espanyol | 1 | Martin Braithwaite (Denmark) |
| Getafe | 2 | Nemanja Maksimovic (Serbia) Stefan Mitrovic (Serbia) |
| Mallorca | 2 | Predrag Rajkovic (Serbia) Lee Kang-In (South Korea) |
| Osasuna | 2 | Ante Budimir (Croatia) Abde Ezzalzouli (Morocco) |
| Rayo Vallecano | 1 | Pathe Ismael Ciss (Senegal) |
| Real Betis | 5 | German Pezzella (Argentina) Guido Rodriguez (Argentina) Andres Guardardo (Mexico) William Carvalho (Portugal) Youssouf Sabaly (Senegal) |
| Real Madrid | 13 | Thibaut Courtois (Belgium) Eden Hazard (Belgium) Eder Militao (Brazil) Rodrygo (Brazil) Vinicius Junior (Brazil) Luka Modric (Croatia) Karim Benzema (France) Eduardo Camavinga (France) Aurelien Tchouameni (France) Antonio Ruddier (Germany) Marco Asensio (Spain) Dani Carvajal (Spain) Federico Valverde (Uruguay) |
| Real Sociedad | 1 | Takefusa Kubo (Japan) |
| Sevilla | 10 | Marcos Acuna (Argentina) Alejandro Gomez (Argentina) Gonzalo Montiel (Argentina) Alex Telles (Brazil) Thomas Delaney (Denmark) Kasper Dolberg (Denmark) Yassine Bounou (Morocco) Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco) Marko Dmitrovic (Serbia) Nemanja Gudelj (Serbia) |
| Valencia | 6 | Jose Gaya (Spain) Hugo Guillamon (Spain) Eray Comert (Switzerland) Edison Cavani (Uruguay) Yunus Musah (USA) Uros Racic (Serbia) is on loan at Braga. |
| Villarreal | 5 | Juan Foyth (Argentina) Geronimo Rulli (Argentina) Nicolas Jackson (Senegal) Yeremi Pino (Spain) Pau Torres (Spain) |
MLS players at World Cup
Outside the top five major European leagues, MLS has the next most players from their league heading to the 2022 World Cup.
Perhaps surprisingly to many, only nine of those 33 players will represent the USA, with Costa Rica and Canada also heavily featuring.
| Club | Number of players | Name of players |
| Charlotte FC | 1 | Karol Swiderski (Poland) |
| Chicago Fire | 1 | Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland) |
| FC Cincinnati | 1 | Ronald Matarrita (Costa Rica) |
| Colorado Rapids | 1 | Daniel Chacon (Costa Rica) |
| Columbus Crew | 1 | Milos Degenek (Australia) |
| FC Dallas | 1 | Jesus Ferreira (USA) |
| Houston Dynamo | 1 | Hector Herrera (Mexico) |
| LAFC | 6 | Jose Cifuentes (Ecuador) Sebastian Mendez (Ecuador) Diego Palacios (Ecuador) Kellyn Acosta (USA) Gareth Bale (Wales) |
| LA Galaxy | 1 | Martin Caceres (Uruguay) |
| Inter Miami | 1 | DeAndre Yedlin (USA) |
| Minnesota United | 1 | Dayne St Clair (Canada) |
| CF Montreal | 6 | Alistair Johnston (Canada) Ismael Kone (Canada) Kamal Miller (Canada) James Pantemis (Canada) Samuel Piette (Canada) Joel Waterman (Canada) |
| Nashville SC | 1 | Shaq Moore (USA) Walker Zimmerman (USA) |
| New York City | 1 | Sean Johnson (USA) |
| New York Red Bulls | 1 | Aaron Long (USA) |
| Orlando City | 1 | Facundo Torres (Uruguay) |
| Philadelphia Union | 1 | Olivier Mbaizo (Cameroon) |
| Real Salt Lake | 1 | Bryan Oviedo (Costa Rica) |
| Seattle Sounders | 4 | Nouhou Tolo (Cameroon) Xavier Arreaga (Ecuador) Jordan Morris (USA) Cristian Roldan (USA) |
| Toronto FC | 3 | Mark-Anthony Kaye (Canada) Richie Laryea (Canada) Jonathan Osorio (Canada) |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 1 | Lucas Cavallini (Canada) |
A-League players at World Cup
The A-League Men — Australia’s premier football league — will have seven representatives at the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
All seven of those players have been called up for Australia.
| Clubs | Number of players | Name of players |
| Adelaide United | 1 | Craig Goodwin (Australia) |
| Central Coast Mariners | 3 | Jason Cummings (Australia) Garang Kuol (Australia) Danny Vukovic (Australia) |
| Melbourne City | 2 | Mathew Leckie (Australia) Jamie Maclaren (Australia) |
| Sydney FC | 1 | Andrew Redmayne (Australia) |
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