It is not often that Aston Villa have plenty of players making the cut for a World Cup final squad, except in a few editions.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup has begun. Two games have been completed in Group A, as one of the co-hosts, Mexico, snatched a 2-0 win over South Africa.
This year’s World Cup is quite a historic one for Aston Villa too. It is the first time the Lions have sent 10 players to the tournament. It is a record in itself, as this World Cup edition features the most Aston Villa players ever.
Those who have been named in their nations’ final squads are Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Ezri Konsa (England), Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans (Belgium), Emiliano Martinez (Argentina), John McGinn (Scotland), Victor Lindelof (Sweden), Evan Guessand (Ivory Coast) and Lucas Digne (France). There has never been a World Cup edition with so many Villans.
Prior to this current World Cup, there were two editions in the past in which the most Aston Villa players were included in the final squads. Which World Cup editions were they?
The first time Aston Villa sent more than two players to a FIFA World Cup was in Italy 1990. Previously, the Clarets and Blue had only sent two names at most, in Sweden 1958 and Spain 1982.
In the 1990 edition, four Villans were called up for the global tournament. Three of them represented the Republic of Ireland: Paul McGrath, Ray Houghton and Tony Cascarino. Another was David Platt for the Three Lions.
Interestingly, all of them thrived and managed to help their nations advance to the latter stages. McGrath, Houghton and Cascarino were all part of the first team when Ireland reached the quarter-finals, their best World Cup campaign to date, despite being winless in normal time.
Meanwhile, Platt was initially not the first choice in the starting XI. Yet, he eventually became one and contributed heavily to England’s progress in the knockout stage. The former Sampdoria and Juventus man even netted three times at the crucial games in the round of 16 and quarterfinals. His goals contributed to the team’s progress.
The next edition with the most Villa players was the first World Cup of the new millennium, Japan-South Korea 2002. The West Midlands club sent five names to the tournament.
They were Darius Vassell (England), Alpay Ozalan (Turkey), Bosko Balaban (Croatia), Steve Staunton (Ireland), and Olof Mellberg (Sweden). All of them experienced different fortunes during the tournament.
Vassell was not the first choice for the Three Lions, and neither was Bosko Balaban, whereas Staunton, Mellberg and Ozalan were key figures for their respective nations. Staunton and Mellberg played in all of Ireland’s and Sweden’s matches and helped them reach the Round of 16. Ozalan even helped Turkey reach the semi-finals, their best World Cup campaign in history.
The most unfortunate one was Bosko Balaban. He did not feature a single game during the tournament and Croatia headed to exit too early at the group stage, despite thumping Italy 2-1.
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