A total of 831 players land in Qatar with the dream of making history in the 2022 World Cup, which starts this Sunday (20).
There are 95 more athletes compared to the previous edition, as FIFA increased from 23 to 26 the number of players called up in each selection. The change is due to the heat in the Middle East and the Covid pandemic.
The final balance is odd because the coach of Iran, the Portuguese Carlos Queiroz, preferred not to use all the extra places and listed 25 names, without giving an explanation.
Another unusual decision by Queiroz is to take four goalkeepers, something unheard of in World Cups. But he is not alone in this. Murat Yakin, from Switzerland, and Jalel Kadri, from Tunisia, also wanted to have plenty of options for the position.
At the other extreme, the Brazilian Tite and the Spaniard Roberto MartÃnez, from Belgium, thought it best to bet everything on the offensive arsenal. They were the only ones to select nine strikers each.
What doesn’t change this year is the predominance of English football. The World Cup will bring together 158 players from clubs in the country, practically 1 out of 5 called up.
The cradle of the Premier League leads the ranking for the second consecutive edition, and with ample clearance. It has almost twice as much in relation to Spain, where 86 athletes work.
Brazil’s squad reflects this dominance. Tite’s roster has 12 players (46%) linked to teams from the first division of the English championship.
Brazilian football only appears in 24th place in this ranking, along with Croatia and Australia, with seven national club names.
In the Brazilian national team are goalkeeper Weverton (Palmeiras), midfielder Éverton Ribeiro and striker Pedro (both from Flamengo).
In addition to these players, striker Canobbio (Athletico Paranaense), midfielder Arrascaeta and winger Varela (Flamengo), all Uruguayans, and Ecuadorian defender Arboleda (São Paulo) will be in the Cup.
Of the total number of athletes selected, only 266 play for teams from their own countries (32%), while 565 compete in foreign leagues (68%).
The most international selection is that of Senegal, the only one with all 26 called up acting beyond its borders. Argentina, Cameroon and Serbia follow, each with a lone representative of local teams.
On the opposite side are England, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with 25 players from national teams and only one foreigner.
Despite the extensive English dominance, the club with the most summoned is Bayern Munich. The current Bundesliga champions loaned 17 athletes, spread across eight teams – seven of them in Germany itself.
Next appear the also giants Manchester City and Barcelona, ​​with 16 each. Just below, with one less, is the modest Al Sadd, from Qatar, in which half of the players from the host country play.
Another curiosity is the number of athletes who will not represent the countries where they were actually born. There are 138 players who are naturalized or have dual nationality, equivalent to 17% of the squad.
With 14 born outside the country (54%), the Moroccan national team is the one with the most athletes in this situation and the only one with a foreign majority. The main star of the African team, the lateral Achraf Hakimi, from Paris Saint-Germain, for example, is a native of Spain.
Winger Alphonso Davies (Canada) and forwards Choupo-Moting (Cameroon) and Raheem Sterling (England) are other protagonists who were also born far from the countries they defend —in Ghana, Germany and Jamaica, respectively.
Of the 32 teams, the only ones without imported names are Brazil, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.
France, on the other hand, is the country where the most athletes summoned for this edition of the Cup were born. Of the 61 players, 23 will defend the current world champion and 38 will be distributed by nine teams, such as Tunisia (10), Senegal (9) and Cameroon (8).
Three athletes born on Brazilian soil will also compete in the Cup with another uniform, that of Portugal. They are defender Pepe and midfielders Matheus Nunes and Otávio.
The average age of all recruits is 27 years old. The youngest of this edition is the German striker Youssoufa Moukoko, who turns 18 exactly this Sunday. The oldest is Mexican goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera, 40.
The youngest team is Ghana (average 24 years and 8 months), while the most experienced team is Iran (28 years and 11 months).
The overall average height of those selected is 1.82 meters. The shortest of the time is the Moroccan midfielder Ilias Chair, with 1.64 m. And the tallest, Dutch goalkeeper Andries Noppert, at 2.03 m.
Brazil’s opponent in the first phase, Serbia is the team with the highest average height, at 1.87 m. Mexico appears at the opposite extreme, with 1.79 m.
The survey was carried out by Sheet from the official squads released by FIFA on 16 November. The selections can change the lists, in case of injury and with authorization from the entity, up to 24 hours before the respective premieres.
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