An incredible XI of Serie A players at the 2026 World Cup in Italy’s absence | OneFootball

Italy are once again conspicuous by their absence from the World Cup, but plenty of stars who call the country home while playing in Serie A will be on show.

The Azzurri lost in the play-offs to Bosnia & Herzegovina, the third successive time that Italy have failed to qualify in such a manner.

We’ve picked an XI of Serie A players going to the World Cup while the four-time champions lick their wounds at home.

GK: Mike Maignan

The man tasked with replacing Gianluigi Donnarumma (no World Cup for him, of course) at AC Milan five years ago, Maignan now captains the Rossoneri.

And despite them becoming something of a crisis club by the end of the season, he still managed to concede fewer goals than the number of games he played in 2025-26.

With 14 clean sheets to his name from his 37 Serie A appearances, Maignan was one of the league’s more reliable keepers.

He missed out on the league’s seasonal award for the best goalkeeper to Roma’s Mile Svilar, who doesn’t play at international level after becoming cap-tied to Serbia and being unable to switch to his country of birth, Belgium.

RB: Denzel Dumfries

Dumfries won’t be a Serie A player for much longer as Real Madrid close in on signing him from Inter, but we’re basing this lineup on players who were playing in Italy this season.

The Dutch wing-back was in his fifth season with Inter, winning his second Scudetto.

Dumfries only played in 20 league games this season due to an ankle injury, but has been one of Serie A’s best wing-backs when at his peak and will be hoping to start for the Netherlands at his second World Cup.

CB: Gleison Bremer

Bremer has been playing in Serie A for eight years now, four with Torino and then four with Juventus.

Spookily, he has the exact same appearance and goal tallies in the league for the two Turin rivals: 98 and 11 for each.

The Brazil international played twice at the last World Cup, which were only his second and third caps for his country.

Now 29, Bremer at his best is a dominant defender, strong in the air and in one-v-one duels.

CB: Evan Ndicka

Born in France and capped 20 times by them at youth level, Ndicka switched allegiance to the Ivory Coast in 2023, the same summer he joined Roma.

The left-footed centre-back played in every single minute of the 2024-25 Serie A season, before helping his side to Champions League qualification by the end of 2025-26.

Ndicka is usually good at reading the game and decent with the ball, traits that Ivory Coast will be hoping can help them at their first World Cup since 2014.

LB: Mathias Olivera

This spot should have been for Ndicka’s Roma teammate Wesley, one of the revelations of the season in Serie A. Alas, an injury in one of Brazil’s friendlies before the World Cup has cruelly ruled him out of the tournament.

One Serie A-based South American left-back who is heading to the tournament unscathed is Napoli and Uruguay man Olivera.

Napoli signed him four years ago and he has since played more than 100 times in Serie A, winning the league twice.

With 35 caps to his name for Uruguay, he is expected to be their starting left-back, since Marcelo Bielsa likes to use Maxi Araujo further forward.

CM: Luka Modric

You’ve heard of him.

Now set for his sixth World Cup after helping Croatia become runners up in 2018 and the third-ranked side in 2022, a 40-year-old Modric has just completed his first season in Serie A with AC Milan.

Despite his age, the former Real Madrid icon started 32 Serie A games for Milan over the season.

There are some claims Modric could retire after the World Cup, so enjoy it while it lasts. What a career he’s had.

CM: Scott McTominay

Fair play to McTominay for becoming a cult hero at Napoli since escaping Manchester United.

He took to Serie A like a duck to water last season, scoring 12 goals and helping Napoli to the Scudetto.

They finished second this time around, but McTominay’s form – he scored 10 goals in the league and actually bettered last season for goals in all competitions – shouldn’t be overlooked.

He will now be part of Scotland’s first World Cup since 1998 and one of three Serie A-based players in their squad along with Bologna’s Lewis Ferguson and Torino’s Che Adams.

AM: Nico Paz

The gem of the Como side that have secured Champions League football for next season – although he might not be a part of it if Real Madrid buy him back – Paz was named the best midfielder in Serie A this season.

He doesn’t yet have double figures of caps to his name for Argentina, but is now set for his first taste of tournament football, following in the footsteps of his father Pablo, who played at the 1998 World Cup.

At the age of 21, the junior Paz is arguably a bigger star already and has a huge future ahead of him.

RW: Donyell Malen

Malen headed from Aston Villa to Roma in January with a point to prove: that he could play as a striker.

Proceeding to score 14 goals from his first 18 Serie A games, Malen ended up as the league’s second top scorer this season, despite only being there for half of it. His point, very much proven.

So it’s a shame we’ve had to stick him back on the wing to properly fit into our XI, but that’s also where he could be playing for the Netherlands this summer.

Malen has more than 50 caps to his name for his country, but this will be his first World Cup after being left out in 2022.

LW: Kenan Yildiz

Juventus’ rising star, Yildiz scored 10 goals in Serie A this season – the same number as the one he wears on his back for his club.

That’s a big sign of approval for a player who’s still only 21, when you consider the greats to have come before him in Turin.

He isn’t the number 10 for Turkey – that’s Hakan Calhanoglu, another Serie A-based star unlucky to miss out on this XI – but will be one of the players they pin their hopes on in their first World Cup of his lifetime.

CF: Lautaro Martinez

Taking the striker role instead is the only player to outscore Malen in Serie A this season, Inter captain Martinez.

For the past eight years, Martinez has been inspiring Inter up front. Strike partners have come and gone, but he has remained fearsome. His 132 Serie A goals are the most by an active foreign player in the league right now.

Part of the Argentina squad that won the last World Cup, he actually didn’t score in Qatar, but did convert the winning penalty in the quarter-final against the Netherlands.

On the whole, Martinez has a record of 36 goals from 75 caps for Argentina. To say he’s usually overshadowed by you know who, that’s not bad at all.