With Europe’s top five leagues – France’s Ligue 1, Italy’s Serie A, the Premier League in England, La Liga in Spain and Germany’s Bundesliga – regarded as the best in the world, only Spain’s squad is made up exclusively of players from that quintet.
Al-Ahli’s Ivan Toney and Galatasaray’s Leroy Sane have been selected by England and Germany, while France have included both Theo Hernandez and N’Golo Kante of Al-Hilal and Fenerbahce respectively.
Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium have a considerable number of players playing at a high level despite their size while outside of Europe, Argentina and Senegal have the most players playing in the top leagues.
None of Curacao, Iran, Iraq or Qatar’s squads played in Europe’s top five leagues this season, although Iraqi forward Ali Jasim is on the books of Serie A club Como but spent the season on loan at Saudi side Al-Najma.