2026 World Cup: The Premier League dominates the last four in defense but not in attack
If you want to find a Premier League name in World Cup semi-final work, look at defence, rather than attack.
Because although the final four teams of this competition contain 41 Premier League players between them, there are very few top players based in England.
France, Spain and Argentina have a total of 20 players who played in England’s top flight last season.
Adding to that are 21 of the 26 players in the Three Lions squad – a figure that includes Anthony Gordon, who played for Newcastle last season but has since joined Barcelona, but without Marcus Rashford, who spent the campaign on loan at the Nou Camp from Manchester United.
The Premier League is the most represented domestic competition in the semi-finals – La Liga is next on the list, with 29 players, 17 of them from the Spanish club.
But then when you start breaking down the Premier League by position, a trend emerges.
This year’s semi-finals feature a number of England-based defenses: Argentina have Tottenham’s Cristian Romero and Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez; France has Arsenal’s William Saliba and Aston Villa’s Lucas Digne; Spain have Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella and Tottenham’s Pedro Porro.
England, who started playing at the back six, and the goalkeeper, with their 2-1 victory in the quarter-finals against Norway, all played in the Premier League last season.
Around 95% of England’s defensive minutes during the tournament were played by Premier League footballers. Figures are also high in Argentina (46.8%), Spain (45.5%) and France (43.1%).
On the front, it’s a different story.
With its 2-0 victory over Morocco in the quarter-finals, France scored three goals in Desiree Doue (Paris St-Germain), Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid) and Ousmane Dembele (Paris St-Germain), often supported by Michael Olise (Bayern Munich).
Spain, who won 2-1 in the quarter-finals against Belgium, started with Alex Baena (Atletico Madrid), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad) and Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), often assisted by Dani Olmo (Barcelona).
Argentina, with their 3-1 victory over Switzerland, went with Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid) and Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), although two of the four midfielders behind them came from the Premier League in Alexis Mac Allister of Liverpool and Enzo Fernandez of Chelsea.
Of England’s top players, only the right-back – Noni Madueke or his Arsenal counterpart Bukayo Saka – will play their football in England next season, following Gordon’s move to La Liga. Is the Premier League struggling to match the attacking talent of other leagues?
Manchester City’s Erling Haaland, who went out in the quarter-finals against Norway, could say otherwise, while midfielder Mikel Merino – from Arsenal – was a key figure in Spain’s exit.
But only one of the four England players who will start the game against Norway – Madueke – will play in the Premier League next season.
None of the four Spaniards will feature – Merino was used as a substitute – while Premier League representation in the French attack was only given to Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki and Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta.
In other words, Premier League clubs provide plenty of defenders who are still chasing the trophy, even if the best headlines are more active elsewhere.
