Sunderland resurgence evident as they edge Newcastle in World Cup player tally | OneFootball

Sunderland will be well represented at this summer’s World Cup, underlining a striking turnaround since 2021/22. Sunderland Echo notes that research from a Premier League ticket site shows they have more players heading to the tournament than rivals, including Newcastle United.

Four years ago, as they completed a fourth straight season in League One, only Bailey Wright made the 2022 World Cup. He featured as a substitute for Australia in their final group game against Denmark.

This time the Black Cats have eight call-ups: Robin Roefs and Brian Brobbey for the Netherlands, Wilson Isidor for Haiti, Noah Sadiki for DR Congo, Granit Xhaka for Switzerland, Chemsdine Talbi for Morocco, Omar Aldarete for Paraguay, Habib Diarra for Senegal.

Xhaka is set for his fourth World Cup, with only six players ever reaching five, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lothar Matthäus, Antonio Carbajal, Rafael Marquez and Andrés Guardado. If they feature this summer, Messi and Ronaldo would each be appearing in a sixth. Three of that six are from Mexico.

From one representative in 2022 to a squad spread across multiple nations, the scale of Sunderland’s progress in the same period is remarkable.

Source: Sunderland Echo