With the 2026 World Cup in sight, Sporting could play a standout role | OneFootball

In the year Sporting’s academy side reached the Champions League quarter-finals, the Lions have shown they have a squad packed with high-level players who could feature at the 2026 World Cup. From Portugal to Africa, via South America, several flags will be represented by the green-and-white players. In a more objective projection, as many as ten Sporting players could be in action on the stages of Mexico, Canada and the United States.

In a week of squad announcements — with Roberto Martínez’s coming as early as this Tuesday —, we look at a scenario that could see ten Lions playing at the World Cup. Two are already confirmed: and Ousmane Diomande, for Ivory Coast.

For Portugal, it can be said that three players are virtually guaranteed: Rui Silva, Gonçalo Inácio and Francisco Trincão. There is also another name who could be close to a call-up, though less likely: Pedro Gonçalves, although his dip in form could jeopardize his inclusion.

For Uruguay, Maxi Araújo’s presence is virtually certain, as is that of Rodrigo Zalazar, already announced as a signing for next season. For Colombia too, Luis Suárez is already on the list of pre-called-up players announced and should remain in the final squad.

Sporting’s representation could have been even stronger had Morten Hjulmand’s Denmark, Vagiannidis and Fotis Ioannidis’s Greece, and the Georgia and Mozambique of Geny Catamo managed to book their place in the competition. Morita, meanwhile, was left out of Japan’s final squad, a decision that left Japanese football stunned. Faye’s Senegal will be there, but the winger has only one senior international cap, which makes his call-up unlikely.

Up to this edition, the record for Sporting players at World Cups came in 1966, the year Portugal finished in third place. That team featured eight Lions in the tournament: Carvalho, Peres, Figueiredo, Lourenço, Hilário, João Morais, Alexandre Baptista and José Carlos.

At the 2022 and 2018 World Cups, there were seven Sporting players in the competition. In 2022, João Vieira Pinto, Hugo Viana, Pedro Barbosa, Nélson, Paulo Bento, Beto and Rui Jorge represented Portugal. In 2018, the call-ups were spread across several national teams: Rui Patrício, William Carvalho, Bruno Fernandes and Gelson Martins (Portugal), Coates (Uruguay), Acuña (Argentina) and Bryan Ruiz (Costa Rica).

Only Polga and Acuña played for Sporting and became world champions. The Brazilian turned out for the Lions after winning the World Cup, while the Argentine did so before that triumph. All that remains now is to wait and see how the competition unfolds to find out whether, in 2026, any of Rui Borges’s players can join that list.

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