Twenty-two foreign-born players have won the World Cup. The first seven helped Italy to glory in 1934, with Attilio Demaria, Enrique Guaita, Luis Monti and Raimundo Orsi born in Argentina, Anfilogino Guarisi in Brazil, Felice Borel in France and Mario Varglien in Austria-Hungary (now Croatia). Monti, who played for Argentina in their 4-2 defeat by Uruguay in the 1930 decider, is the only man to have played for two nations in the competition’s final. Among the most prominent overseas-born players to have won the World Cup are Frenchmen Marcel Desailly (Ghana) and Patrick Vieira (Senegal), Germans Miroslav Klose (Poland) and Lukas Podolski (Poland), and Italian Claudio Gentile (Libya).

Argentinians Nico Paz (Spain), Mateo Pellegrino (Spain) and Giuliano Simeone (Italy), and Frenchmen Michael Olise (England) and Marcus Thuram (Italy), could add to the tally at New York/New Jersey Stadium.

Other prominent players who could among the World Cup 2026 forerunners include Englishman Marc Guehi (Côte d’Ivoire), German Waldemar Anton (Uzbekistan), and Portuguese duo Diogo Costa (Switzerland) and Matheus Nunes (Brazil).