Every Celtic player at the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Celtic are champions again after one of the most dramatic title races Scottish football has ever seen. However, for many of the Hoops' stars, this campaign is far from over. The biggest-ever World Cup kicks off on 11 June, the tournament having been expanded to 48 nations for the very first time, meaning 1,248 players will be heading stateside in the coming weeks.

Of course, Scotland have qualified for the first time since France '98, but the Celts' cosmopolitan squad means they will be represented in a fair few national teams this summer. Daizen Maeda, for example, scored for Japan against Croatia in Al Wakrah four years ago, and will likely be a key figure in Hajime Moriyasu's side seeking the Samurai Blue's first-ever World Cup quarter-final. There are plenty of other Celts who could raise their profile during the course of a few weeks in America.

Celtic could have one of their biggest World Cup contingents

Celtic are set for one of their biggest-ever contingents of World Cup representatives.

Numbers of Celtic players in World Cup squads

Celtic's current record for World Cup representatives is ten, sending that many to France '98. However, eight of them were in Craig Brown's Scotland squad, alongside Danish duo Marc Rieper and Morten Wieghorst. At each of the last four editions however, only four Celts have been named in squads, with Cameron Carter-Vickers, Josip Juranović, Aaron Mooy and Maeda their only representatives in Qatar. However, that record of ten might just be matched this summer.

Every Celtic player expected at the 2026 World Cup

So far, as the various national teams are naming their confirmed squads ahead of the 1 June deadline, four Celtic players have been confirmed to be World Cup-bound, with more to follow.

Every confirmed Celtic player heading to the World Cup

• The aforementioned Daizen Maeda is regularly deployed at left-wing-back by Japan, starting and captaining the Samurai Blue at Hampden in March, so could be a key contributor this summer. His compatriot Reo Hatate did not make the cut.

• Benjamin Nygren is potentially the most-likely Celtic player to shine this summer. He netted three times for Sweden during 2025, and is very much central to Graham Potter's plans. Nygren started both of the the Blågult's play-off victories in March, registering assists as they beat Ukraine and then Poland, set to complete an ultra-talented front three alongside Anthony Elanga and Viktor Gyökeres.

• Sebastian Tounekti was out of the picture for Tunisia for four years, before returning to the Eagles of Carthage's squad a year ago. Well, after featuring in all three of their AFCON group games in December, the winger scored his first international goal against Haiti in March and, given that Sabri Lamouchi's team really lack goals, he is in contention to be a starter.

• Yang Hyun-jun has made the cut for Korea Republic, having earnt eight caps to date, featuring during March's friendlies against Côte d'Ivoire and Austria. The 23 year old is yet to start a match for the Taegeuk Warriors, so is unlikely to be a pivotal figure for Hong Myung-bo's team, but could still see some minutes.

• There are only two Celts in Steve Clarke's confirmed squad. Callum McGregor has retired frominternational football, while James Forrest hasn't been called up since Euro 2024. Kieran Tierney will remain one of the Tartan Army's first names on the team sheet, while Anthony Ralston could see some minutes at right-back. Both Nathan Patterson and Aaron Hickey are ahead of him in the pecking order, but staying fit is neither's forte, so he could see some action.

• Cameron Carter-Vickers would likely have been named in Mauricio Pochettino's squad, but his World Cup hopes were ended by an ACL injury suffered against Sturm Graz in October. However, his club teammate Auston Trusty was called up, presented to fans at a ceremony in New York on Tuesday. Despite only having six caps, after impressing in March, Trusty is in contention to start for the co-hosts alongside Chris Richards of Crystal Palace.

• Alistair Johnston has rarely featured this season, but is back just in time. Between 20 August and 25 April, he saw only 26 minutes of action due to two serious hamstring tears. However, he returned and started the final four Premiership fixtures of the campaign, playing as if he'd never been away. So, the 27 year old remains to be Jesse Marsch's first-choice right back on home soil, starting a 2-0 friendly win over Uzbekistan in Edmonton on Monday night, set to do so as far as les Rouges go in the tournament.

Celtic players who will not be at the 2026 World Cup

• Michel-Ange Balikwisha has been a peripheral figure at Celtic so far, and that may have cost him a World Cup place. Last year, he switched his international allegiance from Belgium to DR Congo, featuring in les Léopards' CAF play-off final win over Nigeria, as well as in three of their four fixtures at the Cup of Nations. However he was not called up by Sébastien Desabre.

• Despite having suffered a severe thigh and quad strain against Aberdeen on 4 March, not featuring since, Julián Araujo was named in Javier Aguirre's provisional 55-man Mexico squad. The right-back started el Tri's Gold Cup quarter-final and semi wins over Saudi Arabia and Honduras last summer. Nevertheless, he did not make the final 26 man squad.

• After it was confirmed that Marcelo Saracchi's Celtic career will not continue, it was also announced that he will not be representing Uruguay this summer. He has 11 caps for la Celeste to date, starting against both Dominican Republic and Uzbekistan last October, albeit Marcelo Bielsa called up a B-squad for that camp. Thus, he did not make the cut.

• Arne Engels has not been called up by Belgium; he has not featured for the Red Devils since November 2024. The national teams of Liam Scales (Ireland), and Viljami Sinisalo (Finland) failed to qualify, but they could be in friendly action in early-June. Lastly, Reo Hatate was not included in Japan's squad.

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