Which Serie A stars are favorites for the World Cup title?

As the 2026 World Cup approaches, Serie A fans are looking forward to seeing which players from the Italian league will be favorites to win the title as Italy once again fails to take part in the World Cup. The Italian national team failed to qualify for the tournament, meaning Serie A supporters will only be able to see the stars of Italy's top league in the summer. The anticipation is huge and many fans are betting on the upcoming games. Spain and France are considered the best placed teams, but as usual the World Cup will be full of surprises and underdogs. Spain won the European Championships two years ago, beating England in the final, while France reached the finals of the last two World Cups. First they won the title in 2018 and then four years later lost in the final to Argentina on penalties. Although the Spanish selection does not contain any players from Serie A, four players from the Italian league are in the French squad: Marcus Thuram (Inter), Mike Maignan and Adrien Rabiot (both Milan) as well as Manu Koné from Roma. England is also one of the favorites, but no player from Serie A will represent the “Three Lions”. On the other hand, Juventus' Gleison Bremer and Roma's Wesley will try to help Carlo Ancelotti win a sixth World Cup title with Brazil. Inter captain Lautaro Martinez, the 2025-26 Serie A top scorer, and Como's Nico Paz will look to defend Argentina's champion status. A total of 66 Serie A players will take part in the World Cup, many of whom are expected to represent underdog nations such as Scotland's Scott McTominay and Lewis Ferguson and Norway's Kristian Thorstvedt, Marcus Pedersen, Torbjørn Heggem and Leo Ostigard. For Italian fans there will be even more familiar faces at the World Cup: alongside Brazilian coach Ancelotti, former Azzurri star Vincenzo Montella is coach of the Turkish national team, and 2006 world champion Fabio Cannavaro will coach Uzbekistan. Former Roma and Napoli coach Rudi Garcia has named four Serie A players for his Belgium World Cup team: Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bruyne, Alexis Saelemaekers and Koni De Winter. "We are no longer the nation that topped the FIFA rankings for six years," Garcia recently noted in Gazzetta. "We are underdogs, and that's okay. As a coach, I know situations like that." Garcia said the favorites are France, Spain and Argentina, "maybe even England and Brazil," while his Belgian team aims to "stay in contention until the final in New York."

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