​Arsenal sent 15 players to the 2026 World Cup, and with just one week remaining before the tournament concludes, eight of them remain in contention to lift the trophy. In terms of preparing for the new season, the quarter-final phase turned out to be something of a worst-case scenario. William Saliba and France advanced past Morocco, while David Raya, Mikel Merino, and Martin Zubimendi knocked Leandro Trossard out of the competition. Eberechi Eze, Declan Rice, Noni Madueke, and Bukayo Saka progressed to the semi-finals at the expense of Martin Odegaard.
If you’d told Arsenal supporters before the knockouts that Morocco, Belgium, and Norway would all win their quarter-final ties, it would have meant that only two Arsenal players would be left in the running for World Cup glory in the days ahead, with one of them almost certainly Trossard, who appears to be on his way to Besiktas. Instead, eight Gunners will continue their campaigns deep into the tournament.
Even if Spain and England are eliminated in the semi-finals, the seven Arsenal players involved with those two nations would still need to stay for the third-place play-off next Saturday, which would give them only one extra day of rest compared with potential final participants. The positive angle is that three of the four remaining teams could feasibly produce an Arsenal World Cup winner, or perhaps three or four winners overall. Only Argentina can guarantee that at least one Arsenal player does not lift the trophy.
Odegaard’s journey through the tournament has been a relief in terms of fitness. The Arsenal and Norway captain endured a frustrating injury spell for much of the season, but he appears capable of completing matches again, and he now has three weeks to recover before a late re-entry to pre-season duties.
Saliba, Raya, Merino, Zubimendi, Eze, Rice, Madueke, and Saka will certainly miss Arsenal’s first three friendlies, and they will be serious doubts to feature prominently in the Community Shield on August 16. That game arrives less than a month after the World Cup third-place match, and far from a straightforward preparation window when the tournament’s conclusion is still fresh in memory. It’s a logistical headache for Mikel Arteta, but one that comes with the territory whenever major international competitions roll around.