Ranking every Premier League club by the total number of minutes at the 2026 World Cup | OneFootball

Manchester City and Arsenal are among the clubs that could suffer a World Cup hangover going into the 2026-27 season, if you assess the total number of minutes played. Leeds United, meanwhile, have done very well out of this summer’s tournament.

Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace are the five Premier League clubs whose players clocked up the most minutes at the 2026 World Cup, but the top two lead the way by a considerable margin.

City’s players notched up 800 minutes more than Arsenal at the World Cup, a large part of that down to key midfielder Rodri, who played almost every minute of Spain’s triumphant World Cup win. That might be Real Madrid’s headache next season, though, if the latest transfer rumours are to be believed.

Reigning champions Arsenal had a trio of players in La Roja’s World Cup-winning squad, but none of them were as regular starters. Mikel Merino was an impactful substitute, Martin Zubimendi eventually featured in the final, and David Raya served as a back-up throughout.

Mikel Arteta may have concerns over Declan Rice, who notched 55 appearances and well over 4000 minutes last season, looking out of sorts and flagging in England’s run to the semi-finals. You imagine the Arsenal boss won’t have been best pleased to see his star midfielder play 90 minutes in the relatively meaningless third-fourth place play-off.

There may also be a cumulative effect for Man City and Chelsea, though, given their players who have now competed in three consecutive summer tournaments, including the 2025 Club World Cup. We’ve seen the toll that no summer rest has had on the likes of Alexis Sanchez in the past.

For much of the Premier League’s bottom half, the World Cup passed without leaving much of a mark. Clubs such as Fulham, Brighton and Newcastle saw players involved, but avoided the kind of injury scares and heavy minutes that can shape the opening months of a season.

Sunderland, though, come back with a very different story. They had 12 players at the tournament and watched them score eight goals, a figure beaten by just one Premier League rival. It reflects the progress they’ve made under Regis Le Bris, although balancing those returning internationals with a Europa League campaign won’t be straightforward.

Manchester United, by contrast, endured a frustrating summer. Lisandro Martínez suffered an injury in Argentina’s defeat to Spain, while several others failed to impress. Kobbie Mainoo didn’t feature at all for England, which raises the question of whether a proper summer’s rest and not even being there might have served him better for next season.

Leeds United might be the big winners of this summer’s action. The likes of Ao Tanaka, Gabriel Gudmundsson and Noah Okafor all featured for their national teams as they made the knockout stages, but not in any especially prominent or gruelling manner.

The Yorkshire’s sizeable Welsh contingent, bolstered by Harry Wilson, have enjoyed a full summer’s rest ahead of pre-season. That ought to serve them well, especially with no European football giving them an extra freshness advantage over midtable clubs like Brighton, Bournemouth and Sunderland.

The lack of minutes could also be a leveller for the newly-promoted clubs, who notched fewer minutes played combined than any of the existing 17 Premier League sides they’ll be looking to compete with.

Coventry City striker Haji Wright will be disappointed that he only made a pair of forgettable injury-time cameos for the hosts USA, while Ghanaian forward Brandon Thomas-Asante also had to settle for a substitute role – although he did assist Caleb Yirenkyi’s vital late winner against Panama.

Scotland’s George Hirst was the only Ipswich Town player at the World Cup, but he didn’t make it onto the pitch. He only featured in their pre-tournament warm-up friendlies.

Hull City had three players at the World Cup, but it was only Canadian winger Liam Miller who really played any minutes. Goalkeeper Ivor Pandur was an unused back-up for Croatia and Amir Hadziahmetovic notched one four-minute cameo for Bosnia.

Here’s the full ranking of how many minutes Premier League clubs’ players played at the 2026 World Cup: