Why EVERY team at FIFA World Cup has Premier League link

At the 2026 FIFA World Cup, there will be 182 players who were either with Premier League clubs at the end of the 2025/26 season or are set to appear in the competition in 2026/27.

Such players can be found in 38 of the 48 national squads competing in the summer tournament.

See: Premier League players appearing at FIFA World Cup 2026 by nation
See: Which Premier League clubs have the most players at the 2026 World Cup?

But did you know that the other 10 countries in the World Cup, the ones who don’t have a Premier League player from 2025/26 or 2026/27, still have a connection to the Premier League in some form?

Here, we explain those connections.

Australia

Australia’s squad contains three former Premier League players. Their captain is ex-Brighton & Hove Albion goalkeeper Mathew Ryan, and defenders Harry Souttar and Cameron Burgess played for Leicester City and Ipswich Town respectively.

Of the three, Ryan made the most appearances in the competition, racking up 121 games for Brighton and featuring three times on loan at Arsenal.  

Australia’s head coach Tony Popovic also played in the Premier League, making 23 appearances for Crystal Palace during the 2004/05 campaign and captaining the side. 

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most notable Premier League connection comes courtesy of the two most-capped players in their squad: veteran captain Edin Dzeko and centre-back Sead Kolasinac. 

Dzeko starred in Manchester City’s first two Premier League title triumphs, in 2011/12 and 2013/14, and scored a total of 50 goals in the competition. Kolasinac played 80 games for Arsenal, helping them to win the FA Cup in 2020.

One of their team-mates, Amir Hadziahmetovic, spent the 2025/26 season with Hull City, on loan from Besiktas. The midfielder helped Hull to reach and win the Championship playoffs as they were promoted to the Premier League after a nine-year absence.

Curacao

The smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup, Curacao have ties to the Premier League in the dugout and on the pitch. 

Curacao boss Dick Advocaat – who, at 78, is set to become the oldest manager in World Cup history – guided Sunderland to Premier League safety at the end of the 2014/15 campaign. 

Four members of the Caribbean island’s squad have played in the Premier League. Curacao captain Leandro Bacuna featured for Aston Villa and Cardiff City, and his brother Juninho Bacuna turned out for Huddersfield Town; Jurgen Locadia spent four seasons at Brighton, and Tahith Chong came through the youth ranks at Manchester United and later scored four goals in Luton Town’s only Premier League campaign, in 2023/24.  

Iran

Only a handful of Iranians have played Premier League football, and two of them are in their country’s squad for this World Cup. 

Saman Ghoddos scored two goals in 51 Premier League appearances for Brentford, while Alireza Jahanbakhsh featured 50 times for Brighton, also finding the net twice. 

Iraq

Back at the World Cup after 40 years away, Iraq have a Premier League link in the form of Ali Al-Hamadi.

The striker played 11 top-flight games for Ipswich in 2024/25 and has just returned to his parent club after a loan spell with Luton, who are now in League One. Ipswich will be back in the Premier League in 2026/27, though Al-Hamadi is out of contract at Portman Road this summer. 

Panama

No Panamanian has played in the Premier League to date, so the Central Americans’ strongest connection is their manager, Thomas Christiansen. 

Christiansen took charge of Leeds for most of the 2017/18 campaign, two seasons before the club won promotion back to the top flight. As a player, the Danish-born striker spent most of his career in LaLiga and earned two caps for Spain — his mother’s home country.

Qatar

Like Panama, Qatar have never been represented in the Premier League – but their manager has had a taste of the competition. 

Julen Lopetegui got his first job in England with Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2022, before going on to take charge of West Ham United in 2024. 

Saudi Arabia

Although Saudi Arabia is yet to produce a Premier League player, the man in charge of the national team made history in the competition.

Georgios Donis, below, was the first Greek to appear in the Premier League, spending the 1996/97 season with Blackburn Rovers. 

Cape Verde

World Cup debutants Cape Verde have no direct links to the Premier League in their squad, but two of their players featured for Nottingham Forest when they were in the Championship.

Cape Verde winger Ryan Mendes enjoyed a season-long loan at the City Ground for 2015/16, while forward Nuno da Costa featured for the latter half of 2020/21.

Two players previously capped by the African island nation have also featured in England’s top flight. Former Man Utd winger Bebe was the first to do so (although he didn’t make his international debut until eight years after leaving Old Trafford), followed by defender Pele, who helped West Bromwich Albion win promotion from the Championship in 2008 and made three top-flight appearances for the Baggies. 

Jordan

Also World Cup first-timers, Jordan are another nation yet to have a player represent a Premier League club, but there are strong ties to the competition among their former managers. 

The late England legend Ray Wilkins – who had numerous spells as an assistant manager and caretaker manager at Chelsea – led Jordan at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. Then former Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth, West Ham and QPR boss Harry Redknapp took charge of two World Cup qualifiers in 2016, as Jordan thrashed Bangladesh 8-0 before losing 5-1 to Australia.