Lionel Messi and Son Heung-min lead MLS as league ranks seventh in 2026 World Cup player count

Lionel Messi and Son Heung-min have become the most visible symbols of a league that is now capable of attracting global stars and expanding its footprint on the international stage. In a concrete reflection of that evolution, MLS has ranked seventh among all leagues worldwide in the number of players competing at the 2026 World Cup.

As confirmed by MLS, 44 players from the league will be representing their countries in the tournament. Those players come from 21 different MLS clubs and will feature for 17 different national teams.

The club lending the most players is LAFC. Among their international contingent, Mathieu Choiniere, Stephen Eustaquio and Jacob Shaffelburg will represent Canada in Group B, while Son Heung-min will captain South Korea in Group A, making the Boys in Gold the most represented MLS club on the world stage.

Beyond LAFC, eight additional MLS clubs will have three players each at the tournament. Among them is Inter Miami, which has contributed Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul to Argentina‘s title defense, along with goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair to Canada’s squad.

According to The Athletic‘s Tom Bogert, the 44 players represent the most MLS has ever contributed to a single World Cup in the league’s history, good for seventh overall in the global league rankings. For context, 19 MLS players traveled to Russia for the 2018 edition and 32 made the trip to Qatar in 2022, making 2026 a record-breaking milestone for the league.

MLS still far from the top

MLS’s rise as one of the more prominent leagues in the international player supply chain reflects the growing quality and credibility of the competition, sitting as the second league with more players in the World Cup apart from the top five European leagues. However, the gap between it and Europe’s elite remains significant.

The Premier League leads all leagues globally, with 183 players heading to the World Cup from England’s top flight, according to the league’s official website. Manchester City alone is lending 19 players to national teams representing Algeria, Belgium, Croatia, Egypt, England, France, Ghana, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Uzbekistan, underscoring the sheer depth of the world’s most high-profile domestic competition.