All 23-member squads for the participating 32 teams at the upcoming FIFA World Cup were announced with June 4 as the deadline. With most teams already announcing their 23-player lists beforehand or the preliminary squads, there were not many surprises on the D-Day.
Except, maybe,Leroy Sane getting dropped from the Germany Squad despite proving pivotal for Manchester City time and again throughout the season.
FIFA published the entire squads on Monday and it makes for interesting reading – such as Harry Kane weighs 98kgs (which is unbelievable!) to become the second heaviest player at the tournament.
With 736 players announced, here’s our data crunching from all 32 teams.
Panama, placed in Group G, have the oldest squad at the tournament in Russia which begins on June 14. Their 23 players average 29 years and 236 days. They are closely followed by Costa Rica. Two of the biggest contenders for the title – Argentina and Brazil – see average squad age of 29.3 and 28.6. At the other end of the spectrum, Nigeria have the youngest squad with an average age of 25.9 years old. It is closely followed by Didier Deschamps’ France and Gareth Southgate’s England (26).
Oldest and youngest players
Egypt’s goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary, 45, is the oldest player at the World Cup in Russia. Mexico’s Rafael Marquez is the oldest outfield player at 39. Marquez has a shot at history if he takes the field. Should the former Barcelona defender don the jersey for the Tri in Russia, he would make his fifth World Cup finals appearance matching the record held by former Mexico player Antonio Carvajal and Germany’s Lothar Matthaus. Marquez has played for Mexico in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and now would hope to play in 2018 as well.
There are seven teenagers going into the World Cup. France’s Kylian Mbappe, England’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, Nigeria’s Francis Uzoho, Panama’s Jose Luis Rodriguez, Senegal’s Moussa Wague and the youngest, Australia’s Daniel Arzani. He is the only player in the squads named who was born in 1999 or later.
Club representation
Manchester City have the most players going into the World Cup this summer. Pep Guardiola’s Premier League winning side will have 16 players throughout the squads. It includes Nicolas Otamendi, Sergio Aguero for Argentina; Vincent Kompany, Kevin de Bruyne for Belgium; Gabriel Jesus, Danilo, Fernandinho, Ederson for Brazil; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph for England; Benjamin Mendy for France; Ilkay Gundogan for Germany; Bernando Silva for Portugal and David Silva for Spain.
City are followed by Real Madrid with 15 players and Barcelona with 14. Also in double digits are PSG (12), Tottenham and Chelsea (12), Bayern Munich, Juventus and Manchester United (11). The top-10 is rounded up by Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal and Al-Alhi with nine players each (matched by Atletico Madrid from Spain).
League representation
English leagues have the most players in representation at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. With a staggering 124 players, English leagues have representation across 26 countries that have qualified for the World Cup. The only countries without a player who plays his club football in England are Costa Rica, Iran, Panama, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay. 11 players in the Belgium squad play their club football in England. This besides all 23 of England’s squad members coming from the Premier League.
Behind England are Spain with 81 players headed for the World Cup and Germany with 67. Italy have fourth most, 58 players, despite not qualifying for the World Cup. Quite interestingly, Saudi Arabian leagues will be represented by 30 players in Russia – including 20 from the Saudi Arabian national team
Tallest and shortest players
Height doesn’t make much of a difference in tennis – just ask Lionel Messi. But it does create openings especially if a team relies on aerial balls and crosses to attack and score. Serbia’s 23 players average the most in terms of height going into the tournament. At 186.69 centimetres or 6 feet 1.15 inches, Serbia will be taller than other teams in Russia. Marginally ahead of Denmark (186.60 cms) and Germany (185.78 cms). At the other end, Peru have the shortest average height at the World Cup at 177.60 cms or 5 feet 9.92 inches.
Does weight make a difference? Maybe in mobility but Kane, despite his 98 kgs, is quick between the blocks and is equally lethal in counter attacks and in making darting runs behind the defence. For the data semantics, Japan has the lightest average squad at the World Cup. Their 23 players weigh an average 71.52 kgs with Inui Takashi, who plays for Eibar in Spain, the lightest at just 59 kilos. Saudi Arabia and Portugal are the second lightest teams at the World Cup at 73.04 and 73.60 kgs respectively. Meanwhile, Denmark are the heaviest averaging side at 82.60 kilograms with multiple teams ranging in the 80 kilos bracket – Iceland, Serbia, Nigeria, Germany, Panama and France. Roman Torres of Panama will be the heaviest player in Russia at 99 kilograms – one kg ahead of Kane, Jannik Vestergaard (Denmark), Harry Maguire (England), Almuaiouf Abdullah (Saudi Arabia).
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