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Last week the last six nations qualified for the 2026 World Cup in USA, Mexico and Canada. Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Yunus Akgun were involved. De Cordova-Reid in the starting line-up for Jamaica, Akgun an unused sub for Turkey.
Turkey managed to get through with a 1-0 win vs. Kosovo. Jamaica unfortunately losing their match 0-1 vs. DR Congo. Caglar Soyuncu has been out of action, but earlier a regular member in the Turkey squad. He was not involved in these latest qualifiers.
Bosnia surprisingly managed to win vs. Italy. Caleb Okoli has been in good form for Leicester lately. His chances of being part of this adventure is now out of reach. Okoli has previously been a player in the frame for a call up to the Italian squad.
Jordan Ayew and Abdul Fatawu were both in action for Ghana in their two friendlies last week. Both players are certain to be involved. Ghana are qualified as one of ten nations from the African continent.
Riyad Mahrez is still very much part of the Algerian national team, being their captain and ready for his second World Cup tournament. This will be his second World Cup tournament finals, earlier being involved in Brazil in 2014. Two other former Leicester men, Rachid Ghezzal, currently with Lyon, and Islam Slimani playing for CFR Cluj, are both Algeria internationals. Ghezzal has not been involved since 2022, Slimani last in the squad for the 2025 Arab Cup.
Senegal will be in the World Cup. Nampalys Mendy is a player that will be in competition for a place, but has not been picked for a while. He has been back in play for Watford, so we will see if he can get back in. The 33 year old midfielder has played 36 times and was in the squad and played in Qatar 2022.
Harry Kane, Harry Maguire and Harvey Barnes are all in the frame for a place in the England squad. Kane and Maguire looks certain to go, Barnes could be in there, being in the squad for the two friendlies vs Uruguay and Japan.
🚨💣 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐍! 🇬🇭
Abdul Fatawu Issahaku scored — his 3rd senior international goal for the Black Stars
Classic Fatawu! The Leicester winger continues to prove exactly why he’s such a lethal long-range threat.
He has 8-9 goals for Leicester City this season. pic.twitter.com/wyvoepdCun
— Topskills Sports UK (@topskillsportuk) March 30, 2026
Wout Faes was not involved for Belgium, but his current form and play on loan at Monaco, makes it possible to see him getting back in. Youri Tielemans and Timothy Castagne are both certain to be inolved.
Bilal El Khannouss will be representing Morocco. He is a very trusted member of their squad. He could be a key attraction in this World Cup. Andrej Kramaric was in the Croatia squad for their friendly games vs. Columbia and Brazil. He looks certain to be involved in his third World Cup finals. He won a silver medal in 2018 and the bronze in 2022.
Chris Wood returned to action for Forest in a U21 game on the 26th of March, scoring a goal. He was not involved for New Zealand playing two recent friendlies vs. Finland and Chile. He is expected to be in the World Cup squad, captaining the Kiwi’s.
N’Golo Kantè has been in good form for France, being their captain in recent games. His move back to Europe playing for Fenerbahce. Kantè has struggled with injuries in the past, but hopefully he will be part of this World Cup, building on his previous victories. The 35 year old midfielder was last involved in international action for France in the two friendlies last week vs. Brazil and Columbia, both wins.
Harry Souttar is back in training at Leicester. He has been involved in internal club games. However, he has not yet made his return to full first team action. He was a certainty in the Australia line-up. There are hopes that he will be part of their World Cup squad.
There are a few other players around with previous full international experience. These individuals looks to be far from a World Cup squad call up. Facundo Bounanotte, currently on loan at Leeds from Brighton, and a full international for Argentina. He is still very young. He got his full debut back in June 2023. However, he has not been much involved since. Ricardo Pereira has also played at full international level for Portugal. His last appearance for the national team was back in 2019. James Justin is an English international, with one single cap, playing vs. Hungary back in 2022. Dennis Praet continues to perform at the highest level for Royal Antwerpen in the Belgian top flight. However, he has not participated in international action since 2023. Aleksandar Dragovic plays for Austria Wien (AD). Filip Benkovic represents Shenzhen (FP). They are still in the professional game. They are unlikely to appear. They have both played at full international level in the past, for their nations Austria and Croatia.
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