12 men playing: RPL football players who will go to the 2026 World Cup

There is very little time left before the World Cup, in a matter of days. All the national teams, and for the first time in history there are already 48 of them, have already announced their final applications for participation in the tournament. Unfortunately, the Russian national team will not play at the World Cup, for obvious reasons, but our country will still have a fairly wide representation in North America thanks to the players of the RPL clubs. Below are the 12 people.

Brazil: Douglas Santos, Luis Enrique (both Zenit)

While the whole world was waiting for Carlo Ancelotti's decision on Neymar's challenge, there was no intrigue about the Zenit pair in principle. Both Santos and Henrique have been stable players in the national team since the fall of 2025. Moreover, they come not just to sit out for the sake of an item on their resume, but to fully participate in the life of the team on the field. The defender, for example, has five starts in six matches.

It is likely that both will get a lot of playing time at the World Cup. Douglas may even become the main option on the left in defense. Luis is facing tougher competition, but different options are being considered for his position, including non-core ones. But the winger will definitely wait for his chances.

Mexico: Cesar Montes (Lokomotiv), Luis Chavez (Dynamo)

Two people from Moscow will go to their home tournament at once. The Loko defender even "rose" to the rank of vice-captain — he wears an armband when Edson Alvarez is unavailable. Most likely, it will be Montes who will form a link-up with Genoa captain Joan Vazquez in the center of defense. Cesar also played three matches without substitutions in Qatar in 2022, scoring an assist in the last round against Saudi Arabia.

The Mexicans won that game 2-1, by the way, and Luis Chavez scored the decisive goal with a fantastic free kick. The defender is also listed in Javier Aguirre's application. The midfielder missed 11 months of playing for the national team due to a ruptured cruciate ligament, but managed to recover and qualified for the World Cup. And he even managed to play in friendly matches.

Paraguay: Juan Caceres (Dynamo)

Dynamo became the main player in the national team during the selection process, but it was a shame that he missed the only opportunity to go to a big tournament — he treated a shin injury during the Copa 2024. Now, if there are no unpleasant force majeure events, Caceres will represent Paraguay at the World Cup.

Juan has also improved in creation in recent months — he has given three assists in four matches, although he previously had 0+0 in the national team. Who knows, maybe in America, too, the Paraguayans will start scoring points with their own feet.

Tunisia: Hazem Masturi (Dynamo Makhachkala)

The striker, who is not considered the main one in his club, in qualifying for the World Cup in a total of 398 minutes almost repeated his own statistical achievements of the whole last season of the RPL — 2 + 1 in the selection and 2 +2 in 1090 minutes in the Russian championship. Probably, he deserved the challenge to the world championship due to his international achievements.

Judging by the recent Africa Cup of Nations, where the striker played strictly at the start, Masturi will be a frequent visitor to American fields this summer. Let's see what Van Dijk and Lindelof come up with against him.

Iran: Mohammad Mohebi (Rostov)

Having lost only to Azmoun and Taremi, the Rostov winger took the third place in the list of Iran's scorers in the selection for the 2026 World Cup with five goals. In November 2024, his double allowed him to win away against North Korea, and three of the four defeats of the Iranians in the qualification were allowed when Mohebi was absent for various reasons.

Mohammad's place in Amir Galenoi's line-up is not in doubt at all. The footballer needs to show himself in America with dignity in order to receive interesting offers of cooperation, because his contract with Rostov, which expires at the end of June, will not be renewed.

Cape Verde: Kevin Lenini (Krasnodar), Benshimol (Akron)

The Krasnodar support is a key link in the Cape Verde system, if you can call it that. Lenini plays all the time and practically does not go on vacation ahead of schedule, this happens in exceptional cases. The third most expensive football player in the country, after all, is not surprising.

Benshimol unexpectedly returned to the national team only for the World Cup — it seems that he convinced Bubista with a good season in the sad Akron, scoring 6 +1 in 30 rounds and a double at the junction with Rotor. In the first match for the national team since November 2024, the striker scored a goal for Serbia. At this rate, it will start coming out from the very first minutes. Can you imagine if, say, the Spaniards score?

Colombia: John Cordoba (Krasnodar)

The situation here is twofold. On the one hand, I am extremely happy for Cordoba, who has contributed himself to the debate about the best foreign player in the history of the RPL and clearly deserved the first World Cup in his life. On the other hand, it is a pity that Wilmar Barrios, who was included in the extended application, but subsequently cut off from it by Nestor Lorenzo, will not fly to America. John Duran won't be at the tournament either.

But let's focus on Cordoba. John is likely to take on the role of Luis Suarez's replacement from Sporting — it is the full namesake of the legendary Uruguayan striker who is now more often than other competitors at the core. However, the leader of Krasnodar is able to oust anyone. In every sense.

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Theo Bongonda (Spartak)

On May 16, the striker said goodbye to the Moscow club on social media, but formally he will go to the World Cup as a Spartak player — the contract is valid until June 30. Having received a total of 47 minutes in the RPL season from Stankovic and Carcedo, Theo did not stop being involved in the national team — he visited the Africa Cup of Nations and participated in the intercontinental matches with Jamaica.

By the way, a local Russian League football derby is possible here — the Congolese and Colombians will meet each other on the night of June 23-24. So far, Bongonda and Cordoba have a 3-3 personal equality.

Panama: Edgardo Farinha (Paris NN)

Nizhny Novgorod players are no longer in the RPL, but we are focusing on the past season. Besides, rushing to the World Cup from the second division is even more grandiose. The level of Panamanian football is very clear, so Thomas Christiansen was not confused by Farinha's statistics in the Premier League - Edgardo waited for the call anyway.

When Panama snatched 2-6 from Brazil on the night of June 1, Edgardo appeared on the field in the 66th minute - and with him, the Brazilians scored only once. If we take only this 25-minute segment, then the score will generally be 1:1. Maybe you don't need to marinate the Farinha in stock? That's the effect it gives.

Of course, some of these players will get more playing time at the tournament, while others will get less, but the very fact of such a representation of the RPL at the World Cup already deserves attention. Despite the absence of our national team, the Russian championship will still be noticeable at the main football event of the four—year anniversary - and the performances of these 12 players are definitely worth watching.