Interesting facts have emerged regarding Aston Villa players included in FIFA World Cup final squads throughout history.
Several Aston Villa players have received call-ups for the 2026 FIFA World Cup final squads. The latest is Villa’s number one goalkeeper, Emiliano Martínez, as reported by avfc.co.uk. Argentina, the reigning world champions, have officially announced their squad.
“The goalkeeper has been rewarded for another impressive individual campaign in B6 with a call-up from coach Lionel Scaloni, forming a part of his 26-man team.”
Martínez’s inclusion comes as no surprise given his status as a two-time FIFA Best Goalkeeper winner. Since joining Villa Park, he has firmly established himself as Argentina’s first-choice goalkeeper.
On the other hand, Emiliano Buendía was not selected despite enjoying an impressive season. That decision is understandable considering he has only earned two international caps so far, while Argentina also have an abundance of attacking talent, including Lionel Messi himself.
Looking back at Aston Villa players included in FIFA World Cup final squads, several fascinating facts emerge — especially when tracing the history back to the very first World Cup in 1930.
One interesting fact belongs to John McGinn, who became only the second Aston Villa player ever to receive a call-up for Scotland World Cup final squad in history. Here are some of the unique pieces of trivia you may not know.
Aston Villa players were not included in a World Cup squad until the 1958 tournament. The British nations did not participate in the competition before 1950 due to disagreements with FIFA, despite being invited prior to World War II.
Interestingly, the first Aston Villa players to receive World Cup call-ups were not English. Peter McParland and Vic Crowe became the first Villa representatives at the tournament during the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, when Northern Ireland made their debut appearance.
Both players helped Northern Ireland reach the knockout stages before they were beaten 4-0 by France in the quarter-finals. McParland even scored five goals during the tournament.
Aston Villa Players in England World Cup Squads
As for England, no Aston Villa player was selected for a Three Lions World Cup squad until Spain 1982. The first player to achieve that honour was Peter Withe.
However, Withe was not a regular starter in Ron Greenwood’s squad and did not make a single appearance during the tournament.
For the upcoming 2026 World Cup, Thomas Tuchel has included three Villa players in England’s final squad: Ezri Konsa, Morgan Rogers, and Ollie Watkins. Interestingly, the last time Aston Villa players represented England at a World Cup was back in South Africa 2010 — 16 years ago. On that occasion, James Milner, Emile Heskey, and Stephen Warnock were selected by Fabio Capello.
Aston Villa also had World Cup representatives during the club’s difficult Championship period between 2016 and 2019.Three players earned places in their national squads for the 2018 World Cup in Russia while Villa were outside the Premier League.
Egypt’s Ahmed ElMohamady, Iceland’s Birkir Bjarnason, and Australia’s Mile Jedinak were all selected despite the club struggling in the second tier. No other Aston Villa players had previously achieved that feat while the club were competing in the Championship. Unfortunately, none of them were able to help their team progress from the group stage.
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