Even though it is the second successive time it has happened, it still feels bizarre that a World Cup is set to get underway and Italy will not be there. All of the Italian stars that light up Serie A each week will be sat at home or jetting off elsewhere with their clubs to play friendlies.
That means that the likes of Nicolo Barella, Alessandro Bastoni, Sandro Tonali, Giacomo Raspadori and Federico Dimarco won’t be featured on these lists of players.
For fans of Italy, though, there is a different way to follow the tournament if you wish. Take a look at which countries will be fielding players from your favourite Serie A club and see if you’d like to temporarily switch allegiances for the winter. With as many as 65 Serie A players present at the 2022 World Cup, and Serbia (11) and Poland (nine) boasting the most from Italy’s top flight, there is plenty for Italian football fans to take an interest in this winter.
The tournament kicks off on Sunday, November 20, when Qatar take on Ecuador.
How many Serie A players are at the 2022 World Cup?
In total, there are 65 Serie A players going to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
That number was higher before Thursday, November 17, but Argentina saw both Joaquin Correa of Inter and Nico Gonzalez of Fiorentina have to withdraw through injury.
So, then, who are the Serie A players at the 2022 World Cup?
Group A
Netherlands (Four Serie A players)
Teun Koopmeiners (Atalanta), Marten de Roon (Atalanta), Denzel Dumfries (Inter), Stefan de Vrij (Inter)
Senegal (Two)
Fode Ballo-Toure (AC Milan), Boulaye Dia (Salernitana)
No Serie A players are representing Qatar or Ecuador.
Group B
Wales (One)
Ethan Ampadu (Spezia)
USA (Two)
Sergino Dest (AC Milan), Weston McKennie (Juventus)
No Serie A players are representing England or Iran.
Group C
Argentina (Four)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter), Leandro Paredes (Juventus), Angel Di Maria (Juventus), Paulo Dybala (AS Roma) – Both Nico Gonzalez and Joaquin Correa had to leave the squad on Thursday, November 17 with injuries.
Poland (Nine)
Lukasz Skorupski (Bologna), Szymon Zurkowski (Fiorentina), Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus), Arkadiusz Milik (Juventus), Piotr Zielinski (Napoli), Nicola Zalewski (AS Roma), Krzysztof Piatek (Fiorentina), Bartosz Bereszynski (Sampdoria), Jakub Kiwior (Spezia)
Mexico (Two)
Johan Vasquez (Cremonese), Hirving Lozano (Napoli)
There are no Serie A players in the Saudi Arabia squad.
Group D
France (Three)
Adrien Rabiot (Juventus), Olivier Giroud (AC Milan), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan)
Denmark (Two)
Simon Kjaer (AC Milan), Joakim Maehle (Atalanta)
Australia (One)
Ajdin Hrustic (Hellas Verona)
Tunisia (One)
Dylan Bronn (Salernitana)
Group E
Incredibly, out of Germany, Spain, Japan and Costa Rica, there is not a single Serie A player heading to Qatar.
Group F
Belgium (Two)
Romelu Lukaku (Inter), Charles De Ketelaere (AC Milan)
Croatia (Four)
Mario Pasalic (Atalanta), Marcelo Brozovic (Inter), Martin Erlic (Sassuolo), Nikola Vlasic (Torino)
Morocco (Two)
Sofyan Amrabat (Fiorentina), Abdelhamid Sabiri (Sampdoria)
There are no Serie A players will be at the World Cup with Canada.
Group G
Brazil (Three)
Gleison Bremer (Juventus), Danilo (Juventus), Alex Sandro (Juventus)
Switzerland (Two)
Michel Aebischer (Bologna), Ricardo Rodriguez (Torino)
Serbia (11)
Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina), Luka Jovic (Fiorentina), Filip Kostic (Juventus), Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio), Filip Duricic (Sampdoria), Sasa Lukic (Torino), Nemanja Radonjic (Torino), Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (Torino), Darko Lazovic (Hellas Verona), Ivan Ilic (Hellas Verona)
Cameroon (Four)
Andre Onana (Inter), Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Napoli), Enzo Ebosse (Udinese), Martin Hongla (Hellas Verona)
Group H
Uruguay (Three)
Matias Vecino (Lazio), Mathias Olivera (Napoli), Matias Vina (AS Roma)
Portugal (Two)
Rafael Leao (AC Milan), Rui Patricio (AS Roma)
South Korea (One)
Kim Min-Jae (Napoli)
There are no Ghanain Serie A players at the World Cup.
What should Serie A fans look out for at the World Cup?
Well, one thing is clear. Don’t watch Group E as you won’t see a single Serie A player in action. In terms of a team to adopt based on the number of Serie A stars, it’s Serbia who boast 11 players who ply their trade in Italy. The likes of Dusan Vlahovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic are always worth tuning in for.
They are closely followed by Poland who have nine Serie A players. It would have been ten if it wasn’t for the injury that Bartlomiej Dragowski suffered in the final Spezia game before the tournament.
It’s good news for Juventus fans (or bad news if you’re concerned about injuries) as the Bianconeri are the most heavily represented Serie A team at the World Cup.
Empoli, Lecce and Monza are the only unrepresented teams.
