🖥️ Only one player per country: AI's ultimate World Cup XI | OneFootball

There are still three days to go until the 2026 World Cup kicks off and the ball starts rolling almost nonstop for five weeks.

But until then, we have to pass the time with thought experiments. For example: what would the best possible World Cup XI actually look like if each participating nation were allowed to provide a maximum of one player?

We put exactly that question to our ever-popular AI and got the following — admittedly controversial — answer:

GK: Gregor Kobel (Switzerland)

RB: Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)

CB: Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands)

CB: Nico Schlotterbeck (Germany)

LB: Nuno Mendes (Portugal)

CM: Rodri (Spain)

CM: Jude Bellingham (England)

CM: Federico Valverde (Uruguay)

RW: Mohamed Salah (Egypt)

ST: Erling Haaland (Norway)

LW: Kylian Mbappé (France)

What stands out: the AI somehow failed to include either a player from defending champions Argentina or superstars like Harry Kane or Lamine Yamal in this XI.

But now it’s your turn: what do you think of this team? And how would you line up if you were allowed to pick only one player per World Cup participant? Let us know in the comments!

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.

📸 ANGELA WEISS - AFP or licensors