Man United will not have any players on the list of teams in Groups A and B of the 2026 World Cup. It will not be until the end of this week, when Brazil faces Morocco in Group C, that "Red Devils" fans will see their stars. That is the trio Casemiro - Matheus Cunha (Brazil) and Noussair Mazraoui (Maroc).
With the Scottish national team also having members of Man United (Tyler Fletcher was additionally called up), the matches of Group C will certainly have members of The Red Devils participating, although it is not yet known whether they will start or be substitutes. In the middle of next week, fans will continue to witness other Man United stars appearing in the England squad (Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford) and Portugal (Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes).
Although this year's World Cup has increased the number of participating teams to 48 with a total of 1,248 players called up, the number of stars in Man United's squad has not changed too much compared to 2022. A positive sign in this tournament is that the number of Man United players called up is more than Real Madrid, Liverpool and Chelsea.
However, the number of players participating in the World Cup, whether small or large, does not really reflect Man United's level at that time. In 2014, no club owned more players participating in the World Cup than Man United (14), but that was when the "Red Devils"' form began to decline after Sir Alex Ferguson's era. In 2010, although the Manchester team only had 5 players participating in the World Cup, it was the time when the team was at the highest level in Europe, having just participated in 2 consecutive Champions League finals (2008, 2009) and preparing to participate in the 2011 Champions League final.
With the 2026 World Cup, its impact on Man United's seasonal preparation is not too significant. Casemiro (Brazil) is in the final days of his contract and has said goodbye. Marcus Rashford (England) may also be bought outright by Barcelona this summer after a fairly impressive season. Goalkeeper Altay Bayindir (Turkey) and Manuel Ugarte (Uruguay) are considered to have no future. Or like Tyler Fletchet of Scotland, he is also only considered a supporting role at Old Trafford.
Among Man United players participating in this summer's World Cup, only a few names are almost certainly guaranteed a starting spot: Casemiro (Brazil), Ugarte (Uruguay), Bruno (Portugal), Mazraoui (Maroc) and Amad (Ivory Coast). A good person like Matheus Cunha is also not guaranteed to start when Brazil's left wing has other names that are too strong such as Raphinha or Vinicius Jr.
Meanwhile, in the England national team, Mainoo and Rashford will have to compete with a series of stars such as Elliot Anderson, Declan Rice, Anthony Gordon,... As for Lisandro Martinez (Argentina), he has not played for Albiceleste since 2024 due to injury.
These 13 players are mostly Man United's main players and there will not be many players starting. Therefore, for those who are supporting players at the 2026 World Cup, plus the remaining half of the first team will be rested this summer, this is a very good sign for the "Red Devils".
Benjamin Sesko (Slovenia) and Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon) may be disappointed because they will not play in the World Cup, but their fitness will recover very quickly. Meanwhile, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw, although very disappointed that they were not called up by Thomas Tuchel, will have a full vacation to recover before entering a fierce new season. Or like the case of Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands), he will have a long break to completely treat his back injury.
Overall, the stars of Old Trafford will not be overworked and are ready for the new season that will take place about 1 month after the World Cup. This helps Carrick call up players earlier and have a thorough pre-season preparation process.
Last season, Man City's stars stopped early at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, but that was still not enough to help them fully recover their fitness in the Premier League and Champions League 2025-2026 campaigns. Last season, The Citizens played 60 matches. Since the beginning of last year's season, they have only had 6 weeks of midweek breaks, so their fitness is very exhausted.
Man United will somewhat have the best preparation with the current situation to prepare to enter an extremely fierce season when returning to the Champions League. The "Red Devils" fans do not wish the World Cup players would stop early with their national team. However, if any key players leave early and keep their intact legs, Man United fans will surely be very happy.
