The 2014 FIFA World Cup is here and all the players are ready to represent their countries for the tournament. Players from all over the globe who represent their clubs in various leagues have gathered together. A total of 736 players representing the 32 nations will be part of the tournament. In fact all the national team managers pick their 23 man squad for the tournament on the basis of the players performance at their respective clubs in various leagues. Here we look at the most represented divisions in the World cup.
Barclays Premier League
Of all the leagues in the world the English top flight has 110 players, the highest amount of players in the tournament. In terms of percentage this turns up to around 15%. This tells us that the English top flight is a power house in world football today. Along with having a lot of home grown talent in the league which is apparent in the current England squad, the league has some of the top talents in the world representing their countries at the World Cup. Clubs like Chelsea (17), Manchester United (14), Arsenal (13), Liverpool (12) and Manchester City (10) have the most capped players in their squads. Countries such as Brazil and Belgium have the most number of players from this league including David Luiz, Oscar, Ramirez, Fernandinho, Willian, Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany, Kevin Mirallas, Fellaini, Romelu Lukaku and the likes.
Serie A
The Italian top flight has 81 players at the world cup which is around 11%. Clubs like Juventus (12) Napoli (12) along with AS Roma (5) having the most number of capped players. Many players of the Italian national squad ply their trade in the Italian top flight today.
Bundesliga
The league has the 3rd highest representation in the world cup 78 which is around 10%. A total of 16 players of the 23 in the German side including captain Philip Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Muller and the likes play in the Bundesliga today. There is a lot of emphasis on home grown talent. Clubs like Bayern Munich (15) along with Borussia Dortmund, Wolfsburg and Schalke each having 7 players have the most capped players in their squads.
La Liga
The Spanish top flight stands 4th in the list with 62 players heading to the World Cup which is around 8% of the total. Teams like Barcelona (13), Real Madrid (12) and Atletico Madrid (9) have the highest number of capped players. Some of the best footballers in World football today including the Ballon d’Or winners of the last 4 years Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo play in this league.
Ligue 1
This is a league where most of the players of the France national squad play outside the division today. Still the division has 47 players in the World Cup.
It is apparent from these numbers that European clubs dominate World football today. The top 5 leagues in the world today are from Europe and they are the ones that represent the cream of the crop. Out of the 736 players in the World Cup 378 of them play in these top leagues which is more than 51% of the players. Although the top players over time are associated from South American countries like Brazil and Argentina, these numbers clearly show that the 5 European leagues are huge global forces in World Football today.
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