It is the country that gives 99 players to the World Championship 2026 + The national team that has 25 out of 26 footballers born abroad
Article by Maria Olteanu – Published on Wednesday, 03 June 2026, 20:08 / Updated on Wednesday, 03 June 2026 20:09
Of the 1,248 footballers selected for this summer's World Cup, which starts on June 11, 99 were born in France. That means almost one in twelve players are born in the Hexagon. In addition to the 23 players called up to the “Les Bleus” national team, another 76 will participate in the competition under the colors of another country.
With the publication of the final lists of the 48 teams qualified for the World Cup, one statistical detail stands out: the number of players born in France.
There are a total of 99 of them, representing just under 8% of all selected footballers. Thus, France becomes the country best represented at this edition of the North American World Cup, surpassing the Netherlands (67), Germany (50), England (49) and Belgium (36).
99 of the players going to the World Cup were born in France
From the group of 26 players summoned by Didier Deschamps, three were not born on French soil: Michael Olise (England), Brice Samba (Congo) and Marcus Thuram (Italy). Instead, 76 players with dual citizenship, born in France, will represent another national team at the World Cup, notably Algeria (13), Haiti (12) or the Democratic Republic of Congo (11), according to lequipe.fr.
Curaçao, an autonomous state within the Kingdom of the Netherlands after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles Federation in 2010, is selected with the highest number of “foreign-born” players. Of the 26 footballers called up to represent the small Caribbean island, 25 were born in the Netherlands.
Only eight of the 48 national teams participating in the World Cup present themselves with a squad made up entirely of players born in the country they represent: Austria (the only team with 25 players instead of 26 at the moment, Christoph Baumgartner not having an official substitute), Brazil, Colombia, Czech Republic, Panama, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Sweden.
The Parisian region of Île-de-France stands out as a veritable reservoir of talent, providing players for eleven different national teams.
