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The 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, will not include Italy as a key participant. Nevertheless, Serie A will be one of the most represented leagues in the event. In fact, 66 Italian-registered players will travel to North America with their national teams. The most remarkable characteristic is the squad's geographical distribution: the Italian league does not "bring" a single national team, but rather dozens of teams from Europe, South America, Africa, and North America. In many cases, Italian clubs are truly international platforms. Among the most represented teams, AC Milan stands out with ten players in the World Cup. It is an extremely diverse group, from French goalkeeper Mike Maignan and midfielder Adrien Rabiot to Portugal’s Rafael Leão, United States star Christian Pulisic, Croatia’s Luka Modrić, and Mexico’s Santiago Giménez. Close behind in international impact is Inter Milan, with seven call-ups spread across three continents. Lautaro Martínez will lead Argentina, while Marcus Thuram represents France. Hakan Çalhanoğlu will play for Turkey, Denzel Dumfries for the Netherlands, and Manuel Akanji for Switzerland. Juventus also makes a significant contribution with six players, including Weston McKennie, who will enjoy a “home” World Cup in the United States, alongside Kenan Yıldız for Turkey, Francisco Conceição for Portugal, and Teun Koopmeiners for the Netherlands. From southern Italy comes Napoli’s contribution, with four call-ups: Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku for Belgium, Scott McTominay for Scotland, and Mathías Olivera for Uruguay. The capital will be represented by AS Roma with six players, including Donyell Malen for the Netherlands, Evan Ndicka for Côte d’Ivoire, as well as representatives of France, Turkey, and Brazil. Atalanta, a club with a significant global profile, has sent seven players to the World Cup. Among the most noteworthy names are Marten de Roon from the Netherlands and Mario Pasalic from Croatia. Behind the big names, several Italian clubs add to the total. Bologna sends five players to the national team, while Fiorentina has only one, defender Marin Pongracic with Croatia. The positive surprise comes from Como, a club that has recently had a surge in Italian soccer: three players have been called up, including Nico Paz for Argentina and Assane Diao for Senegal. Torino sent three players (Vlasic, Ché Adams, and Pedersen), while Parma sent two: Suzuki from Japan and Circati from Australia. Udinese rounds out the list with only one player, Karlstrom of Sweden, and a handful of teams without any players called up, including Lazio, Monza, and Lecce, neither of which will have any players at the World Cup.
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