11 EFL players to look out for at the World Cup

What do Harry Kane, Antoine Semenyo, Emiliano Martinez and Riyad Mahrez have in common?

All of them played in the English Football League before going on to become global superstars who will be at the 2026 World Cup.

But what about some of the lesser-known players who could perhaps follow a similar path and forge a name for themselves on the world stage this summer?

There are 36 players from Championship clubs and three from League One included in squads at the showpiece tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico - and even one from non-league, with Braintree Town defender Tommy Smith selected for New Zealand.

BBC Sport has picked a starting XI of EFL players you might want to keep an eye on.

Includes players who played in the EFL in the 2025-26 season.

Nation: Sweden

Club: Stoke City

Arsenal’s Premier League-winning striker Viktor Gyokeres will lead the line for Sweden alongside Liverpool’s Alexander Isak.

But Stoke City’s Johansson is battling for the goalkeeping jersey alongside Derby County's Jacob Widell Zetterstrom and Kristoffer Nordfeldt of AIK.

Johansson, 27, missed Sweden's World Cup play-off victories against Ukraine and Poland because of injury but will be hoping to reclaim the number one spot.

The decision will lie with former Brighton, Chelsea and West Ham manager Graham Potter, who is in charge of Sweden.

Nation: Tunisia

Club: Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday's Valery, 27, started every game of Tunisia's Africa Cup of Nations campaign until they went out to Mali on penalties in the last 16.

He also featured in the 1-0 friendly defeat by Austria on 1 June and you can expect Valery to play a significant role at the World Cup.

Alongside him in the Tunisia squad is Norwich City midfielder Anis Ben Slimane.

Nation: Australia

Club: Swansea City

Burgess played every single minute of the Championship season at centre-back for Swansea City.

The 30-year-old also operated at the heart of the Australia defence for 11 of their 14 World Cup qualifying matches.

Burgess could line up at the back for the Socceroos alongside fellow EFL defender Harry Souttar, who was named in the squad despite much of his season with Leicester City being disrupted by injury.

Nation: Panama

Club: Norwich City

Cordoba quickly established himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet for Norwich City after arriving at Carrow Road in the summer of 2024.

The 24-year-old has been involved in the Panama set-up since March 2022 but became a regular starter from September 2023 onwards.

Panama are making only their second appearance at a World Cup and will face England in the group stage, as they also did in Russia in 2018.

Nation: New Zealand

Club: Wrexham

Cacace's first season at Wrexham was blighted by injury, meaning he only made 13 appearances in all competitions, although he did score the opener in a dramatic FA Cup third-round clash with Nottingham Forest.

The 25-year-old, who has 35 international caps, is fit enough to make a New Zealand squad featuring five EFL players and the aforementioned non-league player Tommy Smith.

Millwall goalkeeper Max Crocombe and Swansea midfielder Marko Stamenic are travelling with New Zealand as well.

Peterborough midfielder Matt Garbett and Port Vale striker Ben Waine, who were both in League One in 2025-26, also made the cut.

Nation: Ghana

Club: Coventry City

Thomas-Asante has enjoyed a season to remember.

The 27-year-old, who was playing non-league football seven years ago, has won promotion to the Premier League with Coventry and will now be at the World Cup with Ghana, who face England in the group stage.

Thomas-Asante scored 13 goals and registered four assists in the Championship to earn his place in the Black Stars squad.

He has seven caps for Ghana since making his international debut in June 2024 and has scored one goal, which came in a 2-1 friendly defeat by Nigeria in May 2025.

Nation: DR Congo

Club: Watford

Kayembe is a key figure in central midfield for both club and country.

The 27-year-old scored four goals and provided one assist for Watford in the Championship last season and has 40 caps for the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kayembe has been in the national side for seven years and will etch his name into the history books for DR Congo, who are appearing at the World Cup for the first time since 1974 - when they were known as Zaire - and only the second time ever.

Nation: South Korea

Club: Birmingham City

Paik has been at the heartbeat of the Birmingham City midfield since he signed for the club in January 2024.

The 29-year-old made 43 appearances in the Championship last season and played 41 times in League One the year before to help Blues win promotion.

With 28 international caps, he has become a regular for South Korea when fit.

He will compete with Stoke City's Bae Jun-ho and Swansea City's Eom Ji-sung for a spot in the middle of the park.

Nation: Ghana

Club: Leicester City

Fatawu produced decent numbers in the Championship last season, even if he was unable to prevent Leicester City from suffering back-to-back relegations, which saw them drop into League One.

The 22-year-old scored nine goals and provided eight assists for the Foxes to ensure himself a seat on the plane to the Americas with Ghana.

His Leicester team-mate Jordan Ayew is also in the squad for the Black Stars.

Nation: Canada

Club: Southampton

It is fair to say there were a few eyebrows raised by Southampton supporters when Larin was brought in on loan from RCD Mallorca on deadline day in the winter transfer window.

But the 30-year-old scored eight goals in just 16 Championship games in his first three months in English football to help Saints reach the play-off final before they were expelled for spying on opposition training sessions.

Larin will lead the line for a Canada side who also have Middlesbrough defender Alfie Jones, Norwich midfielder Ali Ahmed and Hull wide man Liam Millar in their squad.

Nation: Australia

Club: Norwich City

Toure might just be a rising star.

The 22-year-old made an astonishing impact after arriving at Norwich City from Danish Superliga side Randers in February, scoring nine goals and registering three assists in just 11 appearances in the Championship.

Canaries fans were enamoured by Toure immediately when he scored four goals in his first two games, including a hat-trick in a 3-0 win at Oxford United.

Toure, who has two goals in nine international games for Australia, then scored another hat-trick in a 4-2 win against Bristol City in April.

He might line up alongside Watford attacker Nestory Irankunda.

Elsewhere, Hull midfielder Amir Hadziahmetovic will be at the World Cup with Bosnia, as will his Tigers team-mate Ivor Pandur, who has been selected for Croatia.

Fellow Premier League-bound players competing include Coventry striker Haji Wright, who is in the United States squad, and Ipswich's Iraqi forward Ali Al-Hamadi.

Watford goalkeeper Egil Selvik and Derby defender Sondre Langas will represent Norway.

Curacao, the smallest nation to ever qualify for the tournament, have three EFL players in their squad - Rotherham United's Ar'Jany Martha, Sheffield United midfielder Tahith Chong and Middlesbrough forward Sontje Hansen.

And Scotland, of course, will have six players from the Championship in Dom Hyam (Wrexham), Kenny McLean (Norwich), Lyndon Dykes (Charlton), George Hirst (Ipswich) and Ross Stewart (Southampton).