The 2026 World Cup is well underway, and the Premier League's massive influence on the tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada cannot be understated. The English top flight has supplied 163 players for the competition, with Crystal Palace surprisingly sending more players than Real Madrid.
Premier League Dominance
Research by Football Benchmark shows that the Premier League has provided 60 percent more players than the next league. Incredibly, 39 of the 48 competing nations have a Premier League player in their squad. England's squad features 20 Premier League players, rising to 21 if including Marcus Rashford. This compares to Spain's 17 La Liga players, Germany's 18 from the Bundesliga, France's 8 from Ligue 1, and Portugal's 6 from Liga Portugal.
Crystal Palace Outshines Real Madrid
A staggering stat is that Real Madrid has no players in the Spanish squad. While Real Madrid has ten players at the tournament, Crystal Palace has twelve. Palace's representatives include Jean-Philippe Mateta and Maxence Lacroix (France), Dean Henderson (England), Chris Richards (USA), Daichi Kamada (Japan), Yéremy Pino (Spain), Chadi Riad (Morocco), Daniel Muñoz and Jefferson Lerma (Colombia), Ismaïla Sarr (Senegal), Evann Guessand (Ivory Coast), and Jørgen Strand Larsen (Norway).
Manchester City Leads Clubs
Manchester City has provided more players than any other club, with a staggering 19 in total. The Premier League has also sent more Portuguese players to Portugal's squad than the Portuguese league itself.
Academy Success
Premier League chiefs see this as vindication of the Elite Player Performance Plan launched in 2012. Fourteen years on, academies are producing elite players who perform at the highest level in Europe and star for England. Harry Kane shines at Bayern Munich, Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid, and Anthony Gordon recently joined Barcelona for £70 million.
Youth Team Achievements
England's national youth teams have been the most successful in Europe, winning six major tournaments across UEFA U17, U19, U21, and FIFA U17, U20 competitions.
The Football Benchmark report states: “The Premier League’s increasing dominance is also reflected by a data point that was unthinkable a decade ago: Crystal Palace FC sent two more players to the tournament than Real Madrid CF (12 vs 10).”
Andrea Sartori, Founder and CEO of Football Benchmark, said: “The FIFA World Cup has always been football's biggest stage but the data illustrates how much the tournament has evolved. FIFA World Cup 2026 will be the largest edition ever staged, reflecting both the growing scale of the competition and the increasing global reach of the game. From the growth in revenues and prize money to the concentration of talent within a relatively small number of clubs, leagues, and national teams, our guide to the tournament provides a unique snapshot of many of the financial, commercial and sporting trends shaping the game today.”
