A tournament-topping 163 English-based players will be representing their nations at the World Cup in Qatar – but which domestic teams dominate and which nations have the most experience?
The English tally represents one-fifth of World Cup squads and is 77 more than any other country, with 86 players from Spanish leagues booking tickets to Qatar with their respective international teams.
The remainder of Europe’s top five leagues complete the upper rungs – Germany (81), Italy (70) and France (58), with the USA (35) ranked sixth – ahead of national leagues in Saudi Arabia (34) and host nation Qatar (31).
Breaking that figure down into British representation, 134 current Premier League players have joined up with their national teams, followed by the Championship (25), Scottish Premiership (13), English League One and English League Two (both two).
Club domination
In terms of domestic clubs, Bayern Munich clocked a tournament-topping 17 call-ups – pipping rival powerhouses Manchester City and Barcelona (both 16).
Fifteen of Qatar’s 26-man squad play for Qatari club Al-Sadd, while Manchester United (14) and Real Madrid (13) also have swathes of players among the travelling parties.
You can search and filter domestic nations and club representation at Qatar by using the interactive table below…
International experience
The host nation are runaway leaders for international experience, having amassed 1,472 caps to date – ahead of Belgium (1,340), Mexico (1,285) and Uruguay (1,183).
At the other end of the scale, Ghana have collectively earned only 438 run-outs to date, with Morocco (520), Australia (550) and Cameroon (612) also notably inexperienced.
Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo has dominated the headlines going into the tournament after revealing he has “no respect” for his club manager Erik ten Hag in a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan – but the 37-year-old will be the most experienced player in Qatar with 191 caps for his country.
Andres Guardado (Mexico), Hassan Al-Haydos (Qatar), Lionel Messi (Argentina) and Diego Godin (Uruguay) also provide seasoned know-how among their respective camps.
Veterans and rookies
Caps and years do not always go hand in hand. Indeed, Iran have the eldest average age among all teams going into the tournament at 29 years and 157 days, ahead of Mexico, Tunisia, and tournament favourites Argentina and Brazil.
Conversely, Ghana are the youngest with an average age of just 25 years and 110 days – with the USA, Ecuador, Spain and Cameroon also selecting youthful rosters.
Germany have selected the youngest squad member in 18-year-old Borussia Dortmund striker Youssoufa Moukoko, followed by five other players who share his age: Garang Kuol (Australia), Gavi (Spain), Jewison Bennette (Costa Rica), Bilal El Khannous (Morocco) and Abdul Fatawu Issahaku (Ghana).