Italy will be absent from the 2026 World Cup, but Serie A has more than 60 players called up: here's the full list

Among the 48 national teams participating in the 2026 World Cup, there are plenty of players from our league: most are Croatian, and the most represented club is AC Milan. Three Italian coaches are Ancelotti (Brazil), Montella (Turkey), and Cannavaro (Uzbekistan).

As is known, the 2026 World Cup will not see the participation of the Italian national team, which for the third consecutive time has failed to qualify for the top football competition for nations. However the Italian Serie A will be very well represented in the tournament being played this year between the USA, Mexico and Canada, with over 60 footballers distributed among several of the 48 national teams Participants. This figure nonetheless confirms the international standing of the Italian league and its ability to attract talent from every continent, although perhaps this is precisely the reason for our flop: too many Italian clubs rely on foreign players.

2026 World Cup: Italy represented by 3 coaches

The national team with the most players in our Serie A is Croatia with 7, while the most represented Italian club is Milan with 10. Curiously, not a single Spanish player has been called up among those playing in Italy: Spain is the favorite, along with France, which has four "Italians." The most represented club globally is Manchester City, with 19 players called up. Another curious fact: only eight out of 48 national teams have a squad composed entirely of players born in their own country. Curaçao's case is particularly striking: 25 out of 26 players were not born there. Finally, Italy is also well represented among the coaches, which are three: in addition to Ancelotti, Vincenzo Montella will lead Turkey and Fabio Cannavaro will lead Uzbekistan.

The full list of Serie A players called up, from Lautaro Martinez to Kevin De Bruyne.

Here is the complete list, updated as of June 8, 2026:

Algeria

Fares Ghedjemis (Frosinone) Rafik Belghali (Verona, relegated)

Argentina

Lautaro Martínez (Inter), Nico Paz (Como)

Australia

Alessandro Circati (Parma), Cristian Volpato (Sassuolo)

Austria

Michael Svoboda (Venice)

Belgium

Charles De Ketelaere (Atalanta), Koni De Winter (Milan), Alexis Saelemaekers (Milan), Kevin De Bruyne (Napoli), Romelu Lukaku (Napoli)

Bosnia

Sead Kolasinac (Atalanta), Tarik Muharemovic (Sassuolo)

Brazil

Gleison Bremer (Juventus), Ederson (Atalanta)

Canada

Jonathan David (Juventus), Ismael Koné (Sassuolo)

Colombia

Jhon Lucumí (Bologna), Yerry Mina (Cagliari)

Ivory Coast

Odilon Kossounou (Atalanta), Ange-Yoan Bonny (Inter), Evan Ndicka (Roma)

Croatia

Mario Pašalić (Atalanta), Nikola Moro (Bologna), Martin Baturina (Como), Marin Pongračić (Fiorentina), Petar Sučić (Inter), Luka Modrić (Milan), Nikola Vlašić (Turin)