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EFL players at the 2026 World Cup

A total of 20 clubs in the Football League will be represented in this summer's 2026 World Cup.

16 teams from the Championship, two teams from League One and two teams from League Two will have players they will be quietly cheering on this summer - and there's even representation in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football.

Braintree Town's veteran defender Tommy Smith has been included in New Zealand's squad for the tournament, despite the Iron suffering relegation from the National League in April.

Burnley, Norwich City and Wolves each have five players heading to the tournament, the most of all 72 sides in the Football League.

Norwich's quintet of players is arguably more impressive considering Burnley and Wolves were both playing top-flight football last season, while the Canaries underwent a remarkable transformation in the Championship under Philippe Clement.

Two of their representees, Mohamed Toure and Ali Ahmed, were both signed during the January transfer window.

League One players to feature in the World Cup include Leicester City duo Harry Souttar and Abdul Fatawu, while Peterborough United's Matthew Garbett will represent New Zealand.

Port Vale forward Ben Waine will also head to North America on behalf of the Kiwi's, and Rotherham United will be keeping an eye Curacao defender Ar'jany Martha.

Here's a full list of Football League players at the World Cup.

World Cup

Championship

Birmingham City

  • Paik Seung-ho (South Korea)

Burnley

  • Axel Tuanzebe (DR Congo)
  • Lyle Foster (South Africa)
  • Hjalmar Ekdal (Sweden)
  • Zeki Amdouni (Switzerland)
  • Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia)

Charlton Athletic

  • Lyndon Dykes (Scotland)

Derby County

  • Sondre Langas (Norway)
  • Jacob Widell Zetterstrom (Sweden)

Middlesbrough

  • Alfie Jones (Canada)
  • Sontje Hansen (Curacao)

Millwall

  • Max Crocombe (New Zealand)

Norwich City

  • Mohamed Toure (Australia)
  • Ali Ahmed (Canada)
  • Jose Cordoba (Panama)
  • Kenny McLean (Scotland)
  • Anis Ben Slimane (Tunisia)

Portsmouth

  • Gustavo Caballero (Paraguay)

Sheffield United

  • Tahith Chong (Curacao)

Stoke City

  • Bae Jun-ho (South Korea)
  • Viktor Johansson (Sweden)

Southampton

  • Ross Stewart (Scotland)

Swansea City

  • Cameron Burgess (Australia)
  • Marko Stamenic (New Zealand)
  • Eom Ji-sung (South Korea)

Watford

  • Nestory Irankunda (Australia)
  • Edo Kayembe (DR Congo)
  • Egil Selvik (Norway)

West Ham

  • Tomas Soucek (Czech Republic)
  • Crysencio Summerville (Netherlands)
  • El Hadji Malick Diouf (Senegal)

Wolves

  • Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (Haiti)
  • David Moller Wolfe (Norway)
  • Jose Sa (Portugal)
  • Hwang Hee-chan (South Korea)
  • Santiago Bueno (Uruguay)

Wrexham

  • Liberato Cacace (New Zealand)
  • Dominic Hyam (Scotland)

League One

Leicester City

  • Harry Souttar (Australia)
  • Abdul Fatawu (Ghana)

Peterborough United

  • Matthew Garbett (New Zealand)

League Two

Port Vale

  • Ben Waine (New Zealand)

Rotherham United

  • Ar'jany Martha (Curacao)

National League South

Braintree Town

  • Tommy Smith (New Zealand)

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