Which league will have the most players at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar? Which team is the oldest? And which player is the youngest?
Now they are final: the squads of the 32 participating nations at the 2022 World Cup. Each association was allowed to nominate 26 players – three more than in 2018. A total of 831 players are taking part in this World Cup.
But if you do the math, you will see that one is missing! Because Iran is the only team taking only 25 players with them. They not only have the smallest squad, but also the oldest: the players are on average 28.9 years old. That’s a good four years more than the average age of the youngest squad at the World Cup: Ghana (24.7).
Youngest and oldest players
The point goes to Germany for the youngest player in the tournament: Youssoufa Moukoko from Borussia Dortmund turns 18 on November 20, the first day of the tournament. He is one of six 18-year-olds going to Qatar.
The oldest player of this World Cup has 22 years more under his belt: At 40, the Mexican goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera is the senior of the tournament. Five 39-year-olds are at the start, including two well-known ones: Pepe (Portugal) and Dani Alves (Brazil) are probably contesting their last World Cup.
Smallest and largest players
Not only in age, but also in size there are some differences. The shortest player at the World Cup comes from Morocco: Ilias Chair measures 1.64 meters – one centimeter more than Collins Fai from Cameroon.
The tallest player, on the other hand, is a goalkeeper: Andries Noppert is 2.03 meters tall. The Dutchman is one centimeter taller than Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (Serbia). However, he plays in midfield.
Clubs with the most players
The club that provides the most players at the World Cup comes from the Bundesliga. 17 players come from the German record champions Bayern Munich. Manchester City and FC Barcelona follow in second place with 16 players each.
However, there is a surprise in fourth place. The Qatari top team al-Sadd SC has 15 players. Including half the World Cup squad of host Qatar.
From the Bundesliga to Qatar
After Bayern, Borussia Dortmund is the Bundesliga team with the most players at the World Cup. Eleven black and yellow go to Qatar. RB Leipzig is in third place with eight World Cup participants. The two Bundesliga teams are sending a total of 80 players to Qatar. Of these, 77 players play in the Bundesliga, only three in the 2nd Bundesliga.
Unsurprisingly, the German team provides the most Bundesliga players. The team with the most Germany legionnaires is the Japanese team with eight players, closely followed by Switzerland with seven players.