Which Manchester City players are featuring at the 2026 FIFA World Cup? | OneFootball

As the 2025/2026 Premier League season concludes, members of Manchester City’s senior men’s team will know that they had a successful season.

They will undoubtedly be disappointed to have narrowly missed out on the top-flight title after challenging Arsenal in the final weeks of the campaign, however simultaneously advancing to their fourth consecutive FA Cup Final before winning the competition against Chelsea at Wembley.

City also won the Carabao Cup – defeating Arsenal thanks to Nico O’Reilly’s Wembley brace – meaning the Sky Blues secured a domestic double, and not for the first time under their legendary and now-former manager Pep Guardiola.

In the process, City became the first English team to earn a 100 per cent record across both competitions, keeping three clean sheets in six matches in both their FA Cup and League Cup runs – including in both finals.

The Sky Blues have also had major departures to contend with upon the conclusion of the season, and after 10 years of service, Bernardo Silva and John Stones both announced that they would be leaving the club, honoured by mosaics at the City Football Academy.

Additionally, Pep Guardiola departs as the club’s most successful manager, having won six Premier League titles, five League Cups, three FA Community Shields, three FA Cups, one UEFA Champions League, one UEFA Super Cup, and one FIFA Club World Cup.

Now, after the conclusion of the season, several members of City’s squad will seek to win additional silverware this summer as they join their respective national teams at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The Manchester City stars competing at the World Cup

Manchester City’s first appearance at the tournament will come through Group F and representation from Nathan Aké and Tijjani Reijnders with the Netherlands, who are scheduled to face Japan, Sweden, and Tunisia in the initial group stage.

Group G will then be the first instance of City players going head-to-head, as Jérémy Doku and Belgium – alongside ex-Etihad Stadium star Kevin De Bruyne – take on Omar Marmoush and Egypt, with those two also facing Iran and New Zealand.

Over in Group H, it is the turn of defensive midfield star Rodri and Spain, who have been drawn to face off against Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, and Uruguay for a place in the knock-out phase of the competition.

Group I will see another clash between Manchester City players, with Rayan Cherki and France taking on Erling Haaland and Norway, joined by Senegal and Iraq.

Heading over to Group J, Rayan Aït-Nouri will join Algeria in facing off against the reigning World Champions Argentina, Austria, and Jordan, whilst Group K will see a trio of City players starring for one country.

Bernardo Silva, Rúben Dias, and Matheus Nunes will join Portugal in facing the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Abdukodir Khusanov’s Uzbekistan, and Colombia.

The most action-packed group when it comes to Manchester City names is Group L, where the Sky Blues will have players representing England, Croatia, and Ghana at the competition, joined by Panama.

James Trafford, John Stones, Marc Guéhi, and Nico O’Reilly will join the Three Lions, whilst Mateo Kovačić and Joško Gvardiol represent Croatia, and Antoine Semenyo joins Ghana.

As for the remainder of the Manchester City squad, they will not partake in the 2026 FIFA World Cup and take on a much-needed, extended holiday after the intensity of the 2025/2026 season.

Who misses out for Manchester City?

In the goalkeeper ranks, Marcus Bettinelli has been away from the England set-up for the majority of the latter stages of his professional career, whilst Gianluigi Donnarumma failed to qualify for the competition with Italy – beaten to a place by Bosnia & Herzegovina.

In defence, Max Alleyne and Rico Lewis are the only names to have missed out, although the duo will be confident that they still have a future within the England team in the many years that they have to come in their careers.

Moving into midfield and Sverre Nypan misses out for Norway after an indifferent campaign, whilst Nico Gonzalez’s stellar first-half to the season has simply not been enough to put him on the Spanish radar

Savinho and Phil Foden are the final absentees from the Manchester City squad, excluded by Carlo Ancelotti and Brazil as well as Thomas Tuchel and England respectively following their own struggles in the campaign just gone.