ionigeria.com Nigerian Newspaper
ENGLISH football has been confirmed as the World Cup’s most-represented domestic set-up.
Fifa have confirmed the full squad lists for the tournament, with every nation except Iran taking up their full allocation of 26 players.
And 160 of the 831 players selected across the 32 teams – around 19 per cent – ply their trade in England or Wales.
Prem sides are set to be decimated over the next six weeks.
Manchester City have the most players heading to Qatar – with 16 of their stars having been selected.
In fact, of their starting XI that took on Brentford on Saturday, only Erling Haaland will NOT be at the tournament.
Of City’s 16, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Kalvin Phillips are in Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
The next most represented Prem side is Manchester United – with 14 Red Devils heading to the Middle East.
They include wantaway Cristiano Ronaldo, following his explosive interview with The Sun’s Piers Morgan – as well as his Portugal team-mates Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot.
While Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford are in the Three Lions set-up.
Tottenham have 11 stars at the tournament, including captains of England and South Korea respectively Harry Kane and Son Heung-min – as well as France skipper Hugo Lloris – victorious last time out in 2018.
Kane will be joined in the Three Lions squad by Eric Dier – while Richarlison and Cristian Romero will fancy their chances with Brazil and Argentina respectively.
