With the 2026 World Cup now underway across Mexico, the United States and Canada, Arab football is enjoying its largest-ever presence on the global stage.
The tournament's expansion from 32 to 48 teams has enabled eight Arab nations to qualify, giving the MENA region unprecedented representation at football's biggest event. Four years after Morocco's historic run to the semi-finals in Qatar captivated fans across the Arab world, hopes remain high that at least one Arab side can make a deep run into the knockout rounds.
As the group stage unfolds, the numbers behind the Arab contingent reveal a fascinating mix of experience, emerging talent, domestic strength and overseas influence. Mixed fortunes in the draw The eight Arab teams competing in North America are Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.
Qatar, hosts of the 2022 World Cup, has been handed what many consider a favourable group alongside Canada, Switzerland and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Egypt face Belgium, Iran and New Zealand, while Morocco take on Brazil in one of the standout ties of the group stage, alongside Scotland and Haiti.
Tunisia's task appears more demanding, with the Netherlands, Japan and Sweden standing in their way. Saudi Arabia must navigate a difficult group featuring Spain, Uruguay and Cape Verde.
Iraq arguably face the toughest challenge of all after being drawn against France, Senegal and Norway.
The final group contains the tournament's only all-Arab matchup, with Algeria and Jordan drawn alongside defending champions Argentina and Austria. Saudi Arabia and Qatar dominate player representation The eight squads contain a combined 208 players, spread across leagues throughout the Arab world and beyond.
Saudi Arabia's Pro League contributes the highest number of players, with 31 squad members competing in the kingdom. The list includes 25 Saudi internationals as well as Algeria's Riyad Mahrez and Houssem Aouar, Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou, Jordan's Ali Azayzeh, Iraq's Ali Jasim and Egypt's Nabil Emad Donga.
Qatar's Stars League follows with 29 players, while Egypt's Premier League contributes 19.
Among European competitions, France's Ligue 1 is the most represented, supplying 16 Arab internationals from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Al Hilal leads club rankings At the club level, Saudi champions Al Hilal contribute the largest contingent with 12 players heading to the World Cup, while fellow Saudi Pro League sides Al Nassr and Al Ahli follow with nine representatives each, highlighting the concentration of international talent across the kingdom's leading clubs.
Egyptian giants Al Ahly also have nine players at the tournament, matching Al Nassr and the Saudi Al Ahli. Qatar's Al Duhail contribute seven players, while Jordanian champions Al Hussein Irbid have six representatives. Different paths to the World Cup One of the clearest trends is the dominance of overseas-based talent in North Africa. Morocco has 24 foreign-based players in their 26-man squad, followed by Algeria with 23 and Tunisia with 20.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar, meanwhile, have built their squads almost entirely around domestic-based talent.
Only one Saudi player, Saud Abdulhamid of French side Lens, plays abroad. Qatar's sole overseas-based player is Homam Ahmed, who represents Spanish side Cultural Leonesa.
Egypt fall somewhere in between, with nine players based overseas and 17 competing in the domestic league. Morocco's squad value sets the pace No Arab team comes close to Morocco in terms of market value. According to Transfermarkt, the Atlas Lions' squad is worth €487.2 million, almost double that of second-placed Algeria.
Paris Saint-Germain full-back Achraf Hakimi is Morocco's most valuable player at €80 million, followed by Lille midfielder Ayoub Bouaddi (€50 million) and PSV Eindhoven's Ismael Saibari (€40 million).
Algeria rank second with a combined squad value of €256.6 million, led by Bayer Leverkusen's Ibrahim Maza and Manchester City's Rayan Ait-Nouri, both valued at €40 million, while Marseille forward Amine Gouiri is worth €28 million.
Egypt sit third among the Arab nations with a squad value of around €135 million, driven largely by Eintracht Frankfurt forward Omar Marmoush (€60 million) and Liverpool star Mohamed Salah (€58.5 million).
Tunisia follow on €69.6 million, ahead of Saudi Arabia (€37 million). Iraq, Qatar and Jordan complete the rankings with squad values of €21.1 million, €19.9 million and €19.8 million, respectively. Veterans and rising stars Egypt bring the oldest Arab squad to the World Cup, with an average age of just over 29 years, while Morocco has the youngest Arab team at around 25.2 years.
Qatar captain Hassan Al Haydos is the most experienced Arab player at the tournament, having earned 185 international caps. He is joined by several other Arab centurions, including Algeria's Issa Mandi, Egypt's Mohamed Salah and Qatar teammate Almoez Ali.
Among the tournament's youngest Arab players are Egypt's Hamza Abdel Karim, aged 18 years and five months; Morocco's Ayoub Bouaddi, aged 18 years and eight months; and Tunisia's Rayan Loumi, also 18. The goalscoring hopes Several Arab nations will look to their proven forwards to lead the line in North America.
Mohamed Salah enters the tournament as the Arab world's leading international goalscorer with 67 goals for Egypt. Qatar's Almoez Ali, the country's all-time top scorer, follows with 60 goals, ahead of Hassan Al Haydos on 41 and Akram Afif on 39.
Algeria captain Riyad Mahrez has scored 32 goals for his country, while Morocco striker Ayoub El Kaabi has netted 29. Iraq's all-time leading scorer Aymen Hussein has 32 international goals, Jordan's Ali Olwan has 18, and Saudi Arabia captain Salem Al Dawsari has 26.
Among players taking part in this year's tournament, Al Dawsari also holds the distinction of being the highest-scoring Arab at the World Cup, with three goals. Salah is next on the list with two.
Whether Morocco can repeat its exploits from Qatar, or another side emerges as the tournament's surprise package, the Arab presence at the 2026 World Cup will be impossible to ignore.
From seasoned campaigners such as Hassan Al Haydos, Riyad Mahrez and Mohamed Salah to a new generation led by Ayoub Bouaddi and Ibrahim Maza, the region arrives in North America with its deepest pool of talent and broadest representation yet at the World Cup .