Arsenal have sent 15 players from 9 different countries to North America for the 2026 World Cup, the second most of any Premier League club behind Manchester City sending 19. It would have been 16 and 10 but Jurrien Timber was forced to withdraw from the Netherlands side because of the groin injury that kept him out down the stretch of the club season.
Manchester United are sending 13 players from 10 different countries. You’ll never guess which Premier League clubs are sending the 4th and 5th-most
players. Answer here.
Arsenal put together a nice primer on the Gunners heading to the tournament that I’ll summarize and augment with U.S. TV info (link to FOX Sports’ coverage page that has streaming links).
Leandro Trossard, Belgium
Egypt, Monday, June 15th, 3 pm ET, FOX
Iran, Sunday, June 21st, 3 pm ET, FS1
New Zealand, Friday, June 26th, 11 pm ET, FOX
Trossard is projected to start on the opposite wing from Jeremy Doku.
Gabriel Magalhaes, Gabriel Martinelli, Brazil
Morocco, Saturday, June 13th, 6 pm ET, FOX
Haiti, Friday, June 19th, 8:30 pm ET, FOX
Scotland, Wednesday, June 24th, 6 pm ET, FOX
Big Gabby will start at CB. Medium Gabby will come off the bench.
Piero Hincapie, Ecuador
Ivory Coast, Sunday, June 14th, 7 pm ET, FS1
Curacao, Saturday, June 20th, 8 pm ET, FS1
Germany, Thursday, June 25th, 4 pm ET, FOX
Piero will start at CB alongside PSG’s Pacho.
Ebere Eze, Declan Rice, Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka, England
Croatia, Wednesday, June 17th 4 pm ET, FOX
Ghana, Tuesday, June 23rd, 4 pm ET, FOX
Panama, Saturday, June 27th, 5 pm ET, FOX
Declan Rice (named vice-captain) and Bukayo Saka will start, Ebere Eze and Noni Madueke will come off the bench.
William Saliba, France
Senegal, Tuesday, June 16th, 3 pm ET, FOX
Iraq, Monday, June 22nd, 5 pm ET, FOX
Norway, Friday, June 26th, 3 pm ET, FOX
Saliba will start for France, health permitting. He’s being managed through a back problem that may need surgery after the tournament.
Kai Havertz, Germany
Curacao, Sunday, June 14th, 1 PM ET, FOX
Ivory Coast, Saturday, June 20th, 4 pm ET, FOX
Ecuador, Thursday, June 25th, 4 pm ET, FOX
Kai will start leading the line.
Martin Ødegaard, Norway
Iraq, Tuesday, June 16th, 6 pm ET, FOX
Senegal, Monday, June 22nd, 8 pm ET, FOX
France, Friday, June 26th, 3 pm ET, FOX
The Arsenal club captain also captains his national team.
David Raya, Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Merino
Cabo Verde, Monday, June 15th, 12 pm ET, FOX
Saudi Arabia, Sunday, June 21st, 12 pm ET, FOX
Uruguay, Friday, June 26th, 8 pm ET, FOX
All three are not expected to be starters, which is really harsh on David Raya. I’d expect both Zubimendi and Merino to be regularly used subs.
Viktor Gyökeres, Sweden
Tunisia, Sunday, June 14th, 10 pm ET, FS1
Netherlands, Saturday, June 20th, 1 pm ET, FOX
Japan, Thursday, June 25th, 7 pm ET, FS1
Big Vik will start up top alongside Alexander Isak. Gyökeres scored a hat trick in the qualifier semifinal against Ukraine and the late winner in the final against Poland to put Sweden into the tournament.
We’ll have Arsenal vs. Arsenal clashes on June 25th with Ecuador (Hincapie) against Germany (Havertz) and on June 26th with Norway (Ødegaard) against France (Saliba).
