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The fitness of Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka has been widely debated throughout this World Cup.
The pair are as important for their country as they are for their club and both have put their bodies on the line.
Rice has been dealing with a hamstring issue and had an injection at the back end of last year to deal with it.
The 27-year-old also had a period of illness
Manchester City top the Premier League workload chart with 5,027 World Cup minutes played by their squad.
Rodri alone has played 537 minutes for Spain, centre-back Marc Guehi 483 and defender Nico O’Reilly 454 for England. Elliot Anderson, who is moving from Nottingham Forest to the Etihad, has added a further 533 minutes for the Three Lions.
Right behind them are Arsenal, whose players have clocked 4,285 minutes –
Anderson, who played 55 times in all competitions for Newcastle United, made his debut in an FA Cup defeat by Arsenal in January 2021 before joining Bristol Rovers on loan a year later.
It was here that he completed a vital part of his education – while also figuring in what might still be the most remarkable match of his career.
Former Republic of Ireland international Glenn Whelan was player-coach
It’s no secret that Liverpool are admirers of Yan Diomande and the 19-year-old winger made a brilliant start to the World Cup with a player-of-the-match display for Ivory Coast in their 1-0 win over Ecuador.
Diomande, who plays club football in Germany for RB Leipzig, started for his country and spent time on each flank during the 90 minutes, constantly asking questions of the Ecuador defence.
In a 2-1 defeat
The man who brought these players to the Riverside was McClaren, who admitted he had an amazing five years on Teesside after being sold on Steve Gibson’s vision.
“The goal was to win a trophy, we’d done that, I just felt the next season I needed more firepower and a bigger squad,” McClaren said.
“We wanted to go further into cups, do well in the league and not just make
Stoke City’s Bae Jun-ho and Viktor Johansson have joined their international sides as they begin preparations for the World Cup this summer.
Midfielder Bae has earned 13 caps for South Korea since his senior debut in 2024, while Johansson has 12 under his belt for Sweden after his first appearance in 2023.
Here is a reminder of the groups the Stoke players are in and who they will face, so
Coventry City forward Brandon Thomas-Asante has been named in the Ghana squad for the World Cup which starts next week.
The 27-year-old has made five senior appearances for the Black Stars, scoring one goal which came against Nigeria in a 2-1 Unity Cup defeat at Brentford’s Gtech Stadium in May 2025.
Ghana are in Group L for the tournament alongside England, Croatia and Panama and open their campaign against the
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
Coventry City striker Haji Wright has been included in the USA squad for this summer’s World Cup which starts on 11 June.
The 28-year-old scored 20 goals in all competitions for the Sky Blues this season as they won the Championship title and promotion to the Premier League.
Wright scored on his senior debut for the USA in a 3-0 friendly win over Morocco in June 2022 and has netted
The injury comes just days after he featured off the bench in the USA’s two most recent international matches in Atlanta, scoring in their 5-2 defeat by Belgium before going on to play the second half in the 2-0 loss against Portugal.
Agyemang, 25, is in his first season with Derby in the Championship after moving to the English game from Major League Soccer (MLS) side Charlotte FC.
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