Article by Tudor Belivacă – Published Friday, June 12, 2026, 10:03 p.m. / Updated Friday, June 12, 2026 10:10 p.m.
Jovo Lukic (27 years old), the player from U Cluj, started the game as a starter Canada – Bosnia and Herzegovinathe first match in group B from the 2026 World Championship. Thus, after an 8-year break, the Superliga was represented at a world final tournament.
At the 2026 edition of the World Cup, the Superliga is represented by Jovo Lukic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Joao Paulo (Cape Verde). In the 2022 edition, the Superliga did not have any footballers again the last representative of the league was Jaime Penedo in 2018, an international from Panama.
Superliga is represented again at the World Championship, after an 8-year break: Jovo Lukic, starter in Canada – Bosnia and Herzegovina
Jovo Lukic had a season of grace in the Superliga, and this earned him the presence in Sergej Barbarez's squad for the 2026 World Championship. The Bosnian played in 39 games this season for U Cluj, scoring 20 goals and providing 3 decisive assists. It is quoted by specialized websites at 2.2 million euros.
Jaime Penedo represented Panama at the 2018 World Tourand at that moment he was playing for Dinamo in the Superliga. The goalkeeper from Panama played 3 seasons for the “dogs”, and after the experience in Romania he retired.
Played all three group matches at the 2019 World Cup and scored 11 goals (3 from Belgium, 6 from England, 2 from Tunisia). In total, he played 73 matches for Dinamo, scored 83 goals and kept a clean sheet 26 times.
137 matcheshas Jaime Penedo for Panama
Some statistics about the presence of Superlia players at the World Championship in the last three editions
-
736 players, 32 teams with groups of 23 participated in the 2018 World Cup, and in 2022 there were 832 names – the same number of teams, but with groups of 26.
-
Instead, this year's edition will feature 1,248 players, an increase of 69.5% over 2018's number: 48 teams with 26 teams.
-
This means that although the number of players has doubled, the representativeness of the Super League in 2026 is similar to that of 2018: 0.16% now, 0.135% at the World Cup in Russia.
Starting teams Canada – Bosnia and Herzegovina
Canada (4-4-2): Crepeau – A. Johnston, De Fougerolles, Cornelius, Laryea – Buchanan, I. Kone, Eustaquio (capt.), Millar – J. David, Oluwaseyi
Reserves: O. Goodman, St.Clair, A. Ahmed, Bombito, Choiniere, P. David, A. Davies, A. Jones, Larin, J. Nelson, Osorio, N. Saliba, Shaffelburg, N. Sigur, Waterman
Selector: Jesse Marsh
Bosnia (4-4-2): Vasilj – A. Dedic, Katic, Muharemovic, Kolasinac (capt.) – Bajraktarevic, I. Basic, Tahirovic, Memic – Demirovic, Lukic
reserves: Jurkas, Zlomislic, Alajbegovic, Bazdar, Burnic, E. Dzeko, Gigovic, Hadziahmetovic, Hadzikadunic, Mahmic, Malic, Mujakic, Radeljic, Sunjic, Tabakovic
coach: Sergej Barbarez
