World Cup: Which London Club Has Sent The Most Players?

Members of the triumphant 1966 England World Cup squad lift the trophy, in this group statue near West Ham's old ground. Image: Matt Brown

With another football World Cup imminent, we look at which London clubs have supplied the most players over the decades.

Thomas Tuchel has announced the 26-strong squad for the 2026 (Men's) World Cup Finals. Eight of those players, almost a third, are drawn from London clubs. New Premier League champs Arsenal dominate with four players (Eze, Rice, Saka and Madueke). Brentford, Chelsea, Palace and Spurs are all sending one player. Of these, Jordan Henderson becomes the first Brentford player to feature in an England World Cup Squad.

For a bit of fun, we thought we'd tally things up across all previous World Cups to see which teams have contributed the most.

The tournament dates back to 1930, though England did not participate until 1950. Since then, they've only missed three finals (1974, 1978 and 1994), and this year (2026) will be their 17th finals.