Arsenal have a proud record of developing talent, and a number of their Hale End academy graduates have reached the top of their profession as full, senior internationals.
Some of the very best players – both young and well-established – in world football developed their skills in Arsenal’s academy, the first step towards a proud career highlight for any footballer – representing their nation at a World Cup.
We’ve identified nine graduates from Arsenal’s Hale End academy that have the potential to light up the 2026 World Cup next year.
Bukayo Saka
The poster boy for Hale End, Saka has consistently been among England’s standout performers in recent years.
He’ll surely be among the first names on Thomas Tuchel’s teamsheet once he returns from injury.
The Three Lions have a genuine shot at lifting the trophy in New Jersey next year and Saka is one of their leading lights.
Myles Lewis-Skelly
While England have famously had an abundance of right-back options in recent years, the left has been something of a headache amid Luke Shaw’s ongoing injury issues.
Fast forward nine months and Tuchel is blessed with a couple of very promising young options in Newcastle United’s Lewis Hall and Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly.
The Arsenal starlet kicked off the Tuchel era with the early opener against Albania, breaking Marcus Rashford’s record to become the youngest player to score on their England debut.
“I am lost for words,” he said of his debut goal.
“This past six months have gone so quickly. I stay in the present and I take every moment as it comes. Honestly, it is incredible. This is a day I’ll never forget.”
Ethan Nwaneri
Having only just turned 18, if Nwaneri continues continues on his current trajectory you can’t imagine it’ll be long before he factors into Tuchel’s plans. He’s still representing England’s Under-19s for now, but we’d be amazed if a full senior debut doesn’t follow in the next 12 months.
The prodigy is also eligible to represent Nigeria through his father, and you imagine the Super Eagles are ready to swoop to poach one of the Premier League’s brightest talents should the opportunity present itself.
Mika Biereth
Unbelievably, Biereth has more league goals (11) for Monaco this season than any player in Mikel Arteta’s squad. He signed for them in January.
The 22-year-old striker was born and raised in London and spent a couple of years at Hale End after a longer stint on Fulham’s books. But his path to the top lay away from Arsenal, having joined Austrian champions Sturm Graz in the summer after a successful loan last season.
He did enough in his short time in the Austrian Bundesliga to earn a move to Monaco, where he’s started like a house on fire with three hat-tricks in his first nine Ligue 1 appearances.
That stellar form earned him a first senior call-up for Denmark – for whom he’s represented at youth level, eligible through his father – and he started in their midweek victory over Portugal.
Folarin Balogun
Monaco went out and bought Biereth in the winter window following a dislocated shoulder injury suffered by fellow one-time Hale Ender Balogun.
Born in Brooklyn but raised in London, the striker represented England at four different youth levels before declaring for the United States in 2023.
He scored his first international goal in their 2023 CONCACAF Nations League final victory over Canada and has now notched five in 17 appearances for his country.
Balogun looked badly missed in the United States’ recent 1-0 defeat to Panama. A big part of Mauricio Pochettino’s hopes of declaring a successful World Cup campaign on home soil.
Alex Iwobi
“I like Alex Iwobi,” Arsene Wenger said of the midfielder back in the day.
“Good attitude, efficient player. Maybe not so flashy but he understands the game. He is very efficient and works for the team.”
You’d certainly recognise that assessment today, with Iwobi arguably producing the best football of his career as an ever-dependable presence for Marco Silva’s high-flying Fulham.
Born in Lagos, raised in Newham, Iwobi represented England at three different youth levels before making the switch to his motherland at senior level. His next cap for Nigeria will be his 50th.
The Super Eagles missed out on qualification for the last World Cup but did finish runner-up at last year’s AFCON. Results have been mixed in qualifying for 2026, though.
Serge Gnabry
The winger has made more appearances off the bench than he has starts under Vincent Kompany this season, but he’ll have been a mainstay for Bayern Munich and Germany for almost a decade come next summer’s World Cup and you imagine he’ll be a shoo-in for Julian Nagelsmann’s 2026 squad.
Gnabry showed flashes of that promise in his early days under Wenger, but playing next to no football out on loan at West Brom proved an ill-advised misstep. He’s certainly come a long way since being deemed not good enough by Tony Pulis.
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Emiliano Martinez
It was a long road to the top for Martinez, who developed his game at Hale End after arriving from Argentina at the age of 18.
The goalkeeper spent the first half of his career in a series of unremarkable loans away and never appeared on Argentina’s radar until opportunity knocked with the starring role he played in his parent’s club run to the 2019-20 FA Cup.
“I don’t think you prepare for not playing, I always thought I had the talent but at some stage in my career when I was 22, 23 and I wasn’t playing, I went on my first loan to Spain, I played only six games,” he told Sky Sports.
“Then I knew I would have to go back to Arsenal and they wouldn’t give me a chance, so I would have to go on loan, so those years were really difficult, at some point I stopped loving football.”
Martinez left Arsenal after a decade at the age of 28, joining Aston Villa. The following year he finally made his international debut, and he’s never looked back – one of the key figures as they’ve won back-to-back Copa America and the World Cup.
Next summer he’s eyeing up an unprecedented fourth successive trophy with La Albiceleste. He’s never known anything but glittering glory on the international stage.
Chido Obi-Martin
Like Nwaneri, Obi-Martin is yet to make his senior international debut. The 17-year-old striker is representing Denmark’s Under-18s for now.
Given his wildly prolific record at youth level and eye-catching early cameos for Manchester United it would be no surprise at all if he’s challenging Biereth and Manchester United team-mate Rasmus Hojlund for a place in Brian Riemer’s squad by the end of next season.
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