The Yellow Submarine updates its World Cup history by adding the seven players called up for 2026
Villarreal CF will once again leave its mark on the most prestigious international football tournament on the planet. For the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup, the Yellow Submarine will contribute a total of seven players to the competition, once again demonstrating the international potential and quality within the groguet squad.
In this new edition, Villarreal’s interests will be spread across much of the globe. Alex Freeman will represent the United States; the duo of Tajon Buchanan and Tani Oluwaseyi will play for Canada; Renato Veiga will represent Portugal; while the African continent will be represented by Logan Costa (Cape Verde), Pape Gueye (Senegal) and Nicolas Pepe (Ivory Coast).
A club with a World Cup tradition since 2006
With the inclusion of these seven players, Villarreal CF reaches a total of 29 footballers who have played in a FIFA World Cup while belonging to the club. Previously, other great legends of the club such as Marcos Senna, Juan Román Riquelme, Joan Capdevila, Giuseppe Rossi and Juan Pablo Sorín already carried the club’s name onto the world stage and fought for the World Cup dream.
Below, we take a look at the prestigious list of the 29 Yellow Submarine players who have participated in World Cups throughout history:
- Germany 2006: Marcos Senna (Spain), Antonio Valencia (Ecuador), Guille Franco (Mexico), Juan Pablo Sorín (Argentina) and Juan Román Riquelme (Argentina).
- South Africa 2010: Joan Capdevila (Spain), Nilmar da Silva (Brazil), Giuseppe Rossi (Italy), Diego Godín (Uruguay) and Jozy Altidore (United States).
- Brazil 2014: Giovani Dos Santos (Mexico) and Javier Aquino (Mexico).
- Russia 2018: Denis Cheryshev (Russia), Antonio Rukavina (Serbia), Carlos Bacca (Colombia), Salem Al Dawsari (Saudi Arabia) and Alfred N’Diaye (Senegal).
- Qatar 2022: Pau Torres (Spain), Yeremy Pino (Spain), Juan Foyth (Argentina), Gero Rulli (Argentina) and Nicolas Jackson (Senegal).
- Mexico, Canada and United States 2026: Logan Costa (Cape Verde), Renato Veiga (Portugal), Alex Freeman (United States), Pape Gueye (Senegal), Nicolas Pepe (Ivory Coast), Tajon Buchanan (Canada) and Tani Oluwaseyi (Canada).
