League has 32 at World Cup, Benfica lead, but Martínez's picks don't add up | OneFootball

The stadiums that will host the 2026 World Cup, in the United States, Mexico and Canada, will be the stage for the presence of several players who featured this season in Portugal, reinforcing the strong link between domestic football and the main national-team competition. In total, 32 players who played in the league in the season that has just ended were called up by 15 different national teams, with Portugal appearing as only the second most represented in this group.

The group of call-ups reinforces the growing visibility of the Portuguese league in the international context, with several players using the competition as a showcase for the highest level of world football. Portugal will be represented by several internationals who played in the league, including Diogo Costa, Gonçalo Inácio, Tomás Araújo and Francisco Trincão.

In club terms, 13 Portuguese sides are represented in the tournament, with Benfica providing the most players to the World Cup, followed closely by Sporting. In addition, there are also cases of players going directly from Liga 2 to the biggest stage in world football.

Among those called up, standout names linked to Portuguese football include Andreas Schjelderup and Fredrik Aursnes (Norway), Richard Ríos (Colombia), as well as Argentina captain Nicolás Otamendi, who also represented the Eagles last season.

Among the most represented national teams with players competing in Portugal, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Uruguay, Belgium, Sweden, Turkey, South Africa, Bosnia, Czechia and Austria also feature, among others, demonstrating the diversity of talent that passed through the Portuguese league over the course of the season.

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