Premier League Dominance at World Cup: Goals, Assists, and Wealth

Players from 75 different domestic football divisions have appeared in the 2026 World Cup so far, ranging from EFL League One and the Irish Premier League to the Indonesian Super League and Costa Rican Primera Division. However, in terms of impact on the tournament, no division can compete with the Premier League.

A total of 154 players who finished the 2025-26 season with Premier League clubs were named in squads for the tournament, far more than from any other domestic league. They have made more than 500 appearances at the World Cup between them, playing just shy of 40,000 combined minutes. As the competition reaches the quarter-final stage, BBC Sport examines how dominant the English top flight—and the enormous wealth underpinning it—has been in the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

Premier League Regulars Scoring More Than Rivals

The golden boot race is an all-time classic, with some of the game's biggest stars competing at the top of the charts. They are nicely split between different domestic divisions: current leader Lionel Messi represents the USA's Major League Soccer, Kylian Mbappe plays in Spain's La Liga, Erling Haaland terrorizes Premier League defenses, and Harry Kane breaks records in Germany's Bundesliga. But overall, Premier League players have scored just under double the amount of the next highest scoring league, La Liga.

The Premier League total of 67 goals is powered by impressive scoring returns from players whose quality is clear but sit below the elite tier of Messi and company. They include Arsenal's Kai Havertz (three for Germany), Crystal Palace's Ismaila Sarr (four for Senegal), Liverpool's Cody Gakpo (three for Netherlands), Manchester United's Matheus Cunha (three for Brazil), Newcastle's Yoane Wissa (three for DR Congo), and Sunderland's Brian Brobbey (three for Netherlands). In their most recent transfers, those six players cost a combined total of around £260 million, or an average of just under £45 million each.

A total of 17 Premier League players have scored twice or more in the tournament. No other division possesses an array of clubs—whether title challengers or occupying lower mid-table—that can spend that kind of money on reliable international-quality goal scorers.

La Liga still possesses some of the world's best players, and England's Jude Bellingham, Brazil's Vinicius Jr., and Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal have each scored four. But there is a big drop-off in output beyond that, with only three other La Liga players—Ivory Coast's Nicolas Pepe, Morocco's Azzedine Ounahi, and Switzerland's Ruben Vargas—scoring more than once. Only Kane, Germany's Deniz Undav, Switzerland's Johan Manzambi, and USA's Malik Tillman have scored more than once while playing in the Bundesliga. The total for Serie A has been heavily dented by Italy's failure to qualify for the tournament for a third successive edition.

Premier League Dominates Creativity Too

So far, nine players have earned three or more assists, and five of them play in the Premier League. Overall, Premier League players have contributed more than double the number of assists of the Bundesliga, which is second in the standings. Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes may have missed a penalty during Brazil's elimination by Norway, but he was one of the few players who impressed for Carlo Ancelotti's men, creating four goals. Only France's Michael Olise, who plays for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, has more than the Magpies' skipper.

Arsenal pair Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, and Liverpool duo Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak all have three assists, though the latter two have been knocked out of the tournament. Saka has only ever played for the Gunners at a professional level, but the most recent transfer values of the other four total a whopping £310 million or so.