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The Manchester City will arrive at the with an unprecedented historic record: 19 players who wore the light blue jersey during the last season will represent their respective countries in the tournament in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
No club in the history of the World Cups has contributed so many players to the same edition. This figure exceeds the previous record, held by FC Barcelona with 17 players in Qatar 2022, and solidifies a trend that City had already been demonstrating in the last two editions of the tournament.
The 19 selected players are spread across , highlighting the truly global nature of the project built under the leadership of Pep Guardiola.
The list includes everything from major powers to teams with less World Cup tradition. England will have four representatives from City: James Trafford, John Stones, Marc Guéhi, and Nico O'Reilly. Portugal adds three: Rúben Dias, Matheus Nunes, and Bernardo Silva. Croatia contributes Joško Gvardiol and Mateo Kovačić; the Netherlands brings Nathan Aké and Tijjani Reijnders.
will lead Norway's hopes, Rodri will seek to guide Spain, Jeremy Doku will defend Belgium's colors, and Omar Marmoush will try to boost Egypt.
They are joined by Rayan Cherki with France, Antoine Semenyo with Ghana, Rayan Aït-Nouri with Algeria, and Abdukodir Khusanov with Uzbekistan, representing a geographic diversity that spans Europe to Africa and from Asia to America.
"The geographical reach of this representation is a testament to how Manchester City has managed to build one of the most global sports projects in today's football," the source notes. What started as a plan to dominate the Premier League has turned into a structure capable of attracting top-level talent from all continents.
The record also has an economic dimension. FIFA will distribute 355 million dollars among the clubs that release players for the tournament, at a rate of 11,000 dollars per day per player. In Qatar 2022, City was already the club that received the most money for this concept, with nearly 4.6 million dollars. With 19 players in 2026, that figure could be even higher depending on how far each national team advances.
Behind City in the are Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, and Barcelona, although none reach the 19 representatives of the English team.
The 2026 World Cup is also the first edition with 48 participating teams —up from the previous 32— and three host countries, which expands the total number of players selected and makes the record even more significant. In total, 449 clubs from 71 countries are represented in the tournament.
"When the ball rolls in North America, millions of fans will follow their teams. Unknowingly, they will also be watching an important part of Manchester City, the club that conquered the World Cup before it even began."
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