As the knockout rounds of the 2026 World Cup approach, the Premier League stands out as the most influential footballing force in the tournament — not only in terms of player numbers, but also in goals, assists, and clean sheets, reflecting the financial and technical power it commands.
Financial and technical dominance
Players from 75 different domestic leagues took part in the 2026 World Cup finals, ranging from the Premier League to the Indonesian league and Costa Rica's first division. Yet when it comes to genuine impact on the tournament, the Premier League stands alone at the top.
Squad lists included 154 players who finished the 2025–2026 season with Premier League clubs — the highest figure by a considerable margin over any other league in the world. Those players have collectively appeared in more than 500 matches in the tournament so far, logging nearly 40,000 minutes of playing time, a clear measure of English football's presence across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The Golden Boot race remains one of the tournament's headline stories, with the leading contenders including Lionel Messi representing the MLS, Kylian Mbappé of La Liga, Erling Haaland of the Premier League, and Harry Kane of the Bundesliga.
Despite those stars being spread across different leagues, Premier League players have scored 67 goals so far — roughly double the tally of La Liga, which has the second-best scoring record in the tournament. That superiority stems from a large pool of high-quality forwards.
Among them are Kai Havertz of Arsenal, who scored 3 goals for Germany; Ismaïla Sarr of Crystal Palace, who scored 4 goals for Senegal; Cody Gakpo of Liverpool, who scored 3 goals for the Netherlands; Matheus Cunha of Manchester United, who scored 3 goals for Brazil; Yoane Wissa of Newcastle United, who scored 3 goals for the Democratic Republic of Congo; and Bryan Mbeumo of Brentford, who scored 3 goals for the Netherlands.
The combined transfer value of those players' most recent deals stands at around £260 million, an average of approximately £45 million per player, reflecting the enormous financial capacity of Premier League clubs.
17 Premier League players have scored 2 or more goals in the tournament — a figure no other league can match. Even mid-table clubs in England have the resources to sign forwards of international calibre. Although La Liga continues to house some of the world's finest players — with Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior, and Mikel Oyarzabal each scoring 4 goals — the gap widens beyond that, as only 3 other La Liga players scored more than 1 goal: Nicolas Pépé with Côte d'Ivoire, Azzedine Ounahi with Morocco, and Rubén Vargas with Switzerland.
In the Bundesliga, only 4 players scored more than 1 goal: Harry Kane, German forward Deniz Undav, Swiss player Johan Manzambi, and American Malik Tillman. The Serie A's tally has also been noticeably affected by Italy's absence from the World Cup for the third consecutive time.
Creating goals
The Premier League's dominance has not been limited to scoring; it has extended to creating goals as well. Of the 9 players who have registered 3 or more assists in the tournament, 5 belong to the Premier League. The total number of assists by Premier League players is more than double that of their nearest rivals, the Bundesliga.
Despite wasting a penalty during Brazil's loss to Norway, Bruno Guimarães of Newcastle United was one of Brazil's standout performers, registering 4 assists. Only France's Michael Olise of Bayern Munich has more attacking contributions than him.
Bukayo Saka and Martin Ødegaard of Arsenal, along with Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak of Liverpool, each contributed 3 assists, despite the latter two having been eliminated from the tournament. Saka is the only one among them who has spent his entire professional career at a single club, while the combined market value of the other four is estimated at around £310 million.
Liverpool had broken its transfer record twice last summer to sign Wirtz and then Isak, and although the pair did not deliver the expected season with the Reds, they have shown considerable quality at the World Cup — a level that most lower-spending leagues would struggle to match. With 7 goals and 2 assists, Kylian Mbappé leads all players in attacking contributions with 9 goal involvements.
Goalkeepers
Although 12 Premier League goalkeepers featured in national squad lists, only 4 started matches — yet they were enough to take the league to the top of the clean-sheet standings. Jordan Pickford of Everton kept 2 clean sheets, the same number achieved by Emiliano Martínez of Aston Villa with Argentina and Alisson Becker of Liverpool with Brazil.
Bart Verbruggen of Brighton, playing for the Netherlands, kept 1 clean sheet before the Netherlands were eliminated from the tournament. Surprisingly, the Mexican league shares the top of this ranking with the Premier League, thanks to 3 clean sheets by Raúl Rangel with Mexico and 4 clean sheets by Camilo Vargas with Colombia.
La Liga follows immediately behind with 6 clean sheets, all of them achieved by Unai Simón of Athletic Club, as Spain have conceded no goals throughout the tournament, while David Raya of Arsenal has remained on the bench.
Portugal's second division also attracted attention after goalkeeper Vozinha's brilliance with Cape Verde equalled the clean-sheet tally posted by the Primeira Liga.
Whether in scoring, creating, or protecting the goal, the influence of Premier League clubs is plainly visible at the 2026 World Cup. The figures confirm that the economic power of the world's wealthiest league is not merely reflected in the transfer market — it is on display on football's biggest stage, where its players continue to impose themselves across all positions. Meanwhile, Emiliano Martínez, the best goalkeeper at the 2022 World Cup, remains one of the leading candidates to retain that status should Argentina continue their journey into the later rounds.