World Cup Insights: How the Tournament Shaped Premier League Teams Ahead of New Season
Once the World Cup is lifted by either Argentina or Spain in New Jersey on Sunday night, attention will quickly shift to the new domestic season.
The Premier League was well represented in North America, with all 20 of the top-flight teams for 2026-27 having at least one player involved.
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From injuries to transfers, here is how the World Cup has impacted your Premier League team.
Arsenal
Arsenal may be the Premier League team affected most by the World Cup.
The Gunners face an anxious wait over the fitness of William Saliba, who had been managing a back issue before his tournament was ended by the same problem.
The centre-back has not yet been assessed by the club’s medical team, but were he to be sidelined it would be a big loss – especially as his defensive partnership with Gabriel is so crucial to how the team play.
The other two question marks will be over the fitness of Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka, who helped England finish third while managing their own fitness issues.
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It does not seem they will need a longer lay-off once the tournament is over, but they will be monitored closely by Arsenal before the new season.
Leandro Trossard enjoyed a fine tournament with Belgium, starting all six games and scoring twice as they reached the quarter-finals, before the forward joined Turkish club Besiktas for £15m.
Gabriel Martinelli is another player the Gunners could be open to selling this summer, who showed flashes of his quality playing for Brazil.
Carlo Ancelotti played the winger in a central role during the tournament, and that may be an extra attraction for potential buyers.
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Aston Villa’s transfer plans were thrown a curveball by an injury to Amadou Onana.
The midfielder ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee during Belgium’s last-16 win over the USA which will rule him out until next year.
They were not planning significant changes in midfield, although an extra body would have been useful, so moved for Johan Manzambi and Joao Gomes – especially with Youri Tielemans joining Manchester United.
Manzambi – who has completed a club record move for more than £50m from Freiburg – excelled for Switzerland, scoring three goals, and will form part of Villa’s new-look squad as Unai Emery tries to refresh it amid potential further sales.
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Chelsea have agreed a £117m deal to sign England midfielder Morgan Rogers, while France’s Lucas Digne is due to join Paris St-Germain, but goalkeeper Emi Martinez is likely to stay – and might return with another World Cup winners’ medal as Argentina defend their title against Spain on Sunday.
Winger Rayan was a rare bright spot in a disappointing World Cup for Brazil [Getty Images]
Bournemouth fans will have been encouraged by the performances of Ben Gannon-Doak at the World Cup, despite Scotland’s brief stay in the tournament. The winger played in all three group matches, and particularly impressed in their sole win over Haiti.
The Cherries had six players at the World Cup, including New Zealand back-up goalkeeper Alex Paulsen who has joined Motherwell on loan for the coming season.
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Starring among them, as well as Gannon-Doak, was winger Rayan. The 19-year-old started all Brazil’s games bar their opener and claimed an assist in the 3-0 win over Scotland to seal their path to the knockout stage.
It further raises Rayan’s stock following his January move to Bournemouth, and superb performances in the second half of last season.
This could be bad news for Bournemouth though, with Rayan heavily linked with Liverpool, managed by former Cherries boss Andoni Iraola.
For a couple of Brentford players, the World Cup could not have gone much worse.
Striker Igor Thiago came into the tournament on the back of a stellar scoring season for the Bees and tipped as Brazil’s lead attacker in North America. However, after a lacklustre performance in the opener against Morocco he was dropped by manager Carlo Ancelotti and did not appear again.
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It remains to be seen what impact this has on Thiago’s confidence heading into the new season.
Meanwhile, midfielder Jordan Henderson made one substitute appearance for England, but his most memorable contribution was falling over an advertising hoarding during the celebrations following the win over Mexico and requiring surgery on a broken wrist.
Henderson, however, has stayed with the England squad and should be fit for the start of Brentford’s season, though he may have to initially play in a cast.
Brighton went into the World Cup with eight representatives and emerged with eight – although the personnel has changed.
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Dutch centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke has moved to Tottenham from Brighton, with Croatia defender Luka Vuskovic going the other way.
Vuskovic endured a difficult World Cup, subbed off after 66 minutes of Croatia’s opening loss to England, then not appearing in their three subsequent games.
Indeed, the only one of Brighton’s eight representatives to make it past the last 16 was Belgium left-back Maxim de Cuyper who played in all six of their matches, starting five.
This could be useful for Brighton, who will hope key players like Bart Verbruggen, Pascal Gross and Yasin Ayari will therefore not be too tired after the World Cup and fresh for the start of the Premier League season.
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Chelsea
Chelsea had 11 players involved at the World Cup, but only seven played in the tournament.
Key players Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill and Joao Pedro were left out of their respective squads and have already returned for pre-season training.
The greatest concern has been the fitness of captain Reece James, who played into the latter stages of the tournament after helping England reach the third-place play-off, but suffered hamstring issues.
Enzo Fernandez and Malo Gusto also reached the latter stages of the competition and are set to return late for pre-season, along with expected new signing Valentin Barco.
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England midfielder Morgan Rogers is set to arrive at Chelsea from Aston Villa for that club record £117m deal, though international team-mate Trevoh Chalobah is expected to leave this summer.
Much like Cristiano Ronaldo after Portugal knocked England out of the European Championship in 2006, Fernandez may find his antics in and around Argentina’s victory over England will make him a target for opposition fans next season should he stay with Chelsea.
Coventry
Aurele Amenda has seven Switzerland caps – but did not add to them at the World Cup [Getty Images]
New Coventry defender Aurele Amenda suffered World Cup frustration. The centre-back, who has joined from Frankfurt, was an unused substitute in Switzerland’s run to the quarter-finals.
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Striker Haji Wright played against Australia and Belgium as co-hosts USA bowed out to the Red Devils in the last 16.
The 28-year-old will be one of Coventry’s main threats as they return to the Premier League for the first time in 25 years, having scored 20 goals to help them to the Championship title last season.
Fellow forward Brandon Thomas-Asante, who scored 13 goals for the Sky Blues last season, also featured in two of Ghana’s World Cup games as they exited the competition in the last 32.
Crystal Palace were one of the most represented Premier League clubs at the World Cup, with 10 players involved.
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They received a potential blow, however, when Spain winger Yeremy Pino sustained a shoulder injury during the group stage, but he may be called upon for the World Cup final.
Elsewhere, goalscoring midfielder Daichi Kamada and attacking right-back Daniel Munoz impressed for Japan and Colombia respectively. New Palace manager Pierre Sage will hope the club rebuffs any potential suitors.
Other key players like goalkeeper Dean Henderson and striker Jean-Philippe Mateta have been peripheral figures for England and France, so should be raring to go when they return for pre-season training.
Iliman Ndiaye is one of Everton’s biggest assets and was at the centre of transfer talk before the World Cup.
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He made an impact at the tournament with a spectacular strike after coming on as a substitute in Senegal’s 5-0 win against Iraq. They reached the last 32 before losing 3-2 to Belgium.
It remains to be seen whether the World Cup reignites speculation, but Everton will hope it stays quiet as Ndiaye is arguably their most creative player.
Idrissa Gueye, Ndiaye’s Senegal team-mate, had his Everton deal expire at the start of July, so is effectively a free agent.
All talks on his future were shelved until the end of the World Cup, so a decision on the 36-year-old’s next move will be made soon.
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Nathan Patterson played for Scotland at right-back, but he has failed to convince manager David Moyes that he should be a regular starter at Everton.
The Toffees are actively pursuing targets in that position, so Patterson could yet be on the move before the start of the season.
Fulham
It was a World Cup to remember for four out of the six Fulham players involved.
Sander Berge and Oscar Bobb were part of the brilliant Norway side beaten by England in the quarter-finals, while Belgium’s Timothy Castagne and Morocco’s Issa Diop also fell at that stage.
While Bobb was not often a starter for Norway, his second-half appearances allowed him to showcase his talents and ability to move the ball in the final third.
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But for Fulham fans, it was a chance to catch a glimpse of defender Luc de Fougerolles.
The 20-year-old has been at Craven Cottage since 2023 but is yet to make an appearance after spending last season on loan at Belgium Pro League side Dender EH.
Perhaps new manager Alvaro Arbeloa will be pleased with what he saw.
Hull
Newly promoted Hull watched two players leave for the World Cup and welcomed home one.
Croatia goalkeeper Ivor Pandur made the switch from the Tigers to Rangers for a fee of £6m at the end of June.
But moving the other way from Ibrox was Jack Butland to fill the goalkeeping void.
Hull fans did have something to cheer as Liam Millar progressed to the last 16 of the World Cup in a historic run for co-hosts Canada.
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Hull boss Sergej Jakirovic can look forward to having an almost completely fresh squad ready to tackle pre-season before the Premier League starts in August.
Ipswich
Like fellow newly promoted Hull, Ipswich only had two players make their way to America, Canada and Mexico for the World Cup.
Striker George Hirst was named in the first Scotland squad to reach the World Cup in 26 years, while Ali Al-Hamadi was there with Iraq.
Hirst failed to make it off the bench for Scotland in a campaign that ended at the group stage, as Al-Hamadi appeared three times for winless Iraq.
For new Ipswich manager Gary O’Neil, it presents a chance to put out his pre-season ideas to an almost full squad – including new signing Emersonn.
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The striker is the first Brazilian to sign for the Tractor Boys but, despite playing for his country at youth level, he is yet to win a senior cap.
Leeds
Leeds fans could only keep an eye on four of their players at the World Cup – with new signing Harry Wilson’s Wales failing to qualify.
Left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson was the Leeds player who appeared the most times in the tournament, featuring in all four of Sweden’s matches.
Midfielder Ao Tanaka was left heartbroken by Japan’s stoppage-time loss to Brazil in the last 32. He made three appearances for his nation – who many thought were dark horses for the tournament.
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Despite coming within a whisker of the semi-finals with Switzerland, Noah Okafor will return to Elland Road fresh, with just one World Cup appearance to his name.
With survival the aim for Daniel Farke’s side last season, now it is all about progression.
Liverpool
Alexis Mac Allister has been key in Argentina’s eventful run to the World Cup final [Getty Images]
No matter what happens on Sunday, Liverpool will have a World Cup winner with Alexis Mac Allister playing for Argentina and new signing Victor Munoz representing Spain.
Munoz is yet to play a minute at the tournament but Mac Allister has excelled for his country after a below-par season at Anfield, and his effective display against England will certainly have pleased Iraola.
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Aside from that, Liverpool will take plenty of confidence from the other players they had in North America. Alexander Isak scored once and got three assists for Sweden while Florian Wirtz provided three assists for Germany.
Cody Gakpo scored three times for the Netherlands, with Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch also playing for them.
Meanwhile, Alisson played every minute for Brazil before they were knocked out by Norway in the last 16.
In terms of signings, Liverpool have expressed interest in Yan Diomande, while Bradley Barcola is also on their shortlist. Both impressed for Ivory Coast and France respectively.
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Manchester City midfielder Rodri has played a starring role in captaining Spain to Sunday’s World Cup final.
The 29-year-old’s long-term future at Etihad Stadium is uncertain as he enters the final year of his contract, and reports suggest he is set to miss the start of the season to have surgery on an unspecified injury.
City hold a strong interest in Lille’s Morocco midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi after the teenager shone for the North Africans during the tournament, but it remains to be seen whether new manager Enzo Maresca makes a move for the 18-year-old who could cost up to £80m.
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Club record signing Elliot Anderson enhanced his reputation in England’s run to the semi-finals and striker Erling Haaland seamlessly transferred his club form to the world stage, but Rayan Cherki found minutes hard to come by with France.
Fifa has mandated three weeks off for players during the off-season, meaning the aforementioned City players will not be on the plane for the club’s pre-season trip to the Far East unless joining later on.
Manchester United
Kobbie Mainoo was one of only two England outfield players not to feature for a single minute in their first seven games of the 2026 World Cup [Getty Images]
The most concrete World Cup news for Manchester United was Manuel Ugarte’s knee injury.
Ugarte is going to be out until 2027 after having surgery to repair cruciate ligament damage. Given the Uruguay midfielder was likely to be sold this summer, it has added an extra layer of complication around United’s recruitment plans.
The 21-year-old shrugged off the disappointment at being continually overlooked by Ruben Amorim to deliver excellent performances over the second half of last season, which suggests he can bounce back from not playing for England at the World Cup.
However, Michael Carrick, who experienced the same thing under Fabio Capello in 2010, might need to put an arm around his shoulder.
It will also be interesting to see whether there is any fallout from Lisandro Martinez being one of the Argentina players to hold the ‘Las Malvinas son Argentinas’ banner up after the semi-final win against England.