Tottenham Hotspur will have 10 players at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, turning the tournament into a club-wide watchpoint before a ball is kicked. From Scotland to Croatia and Austria, Spurs-linked names will be spread across several squads, with some of the most eye-catching meetings set to arrive in the group stage.
That is why the competition is being searched now. The club’s players are not just going to be participants; they are set to collide. Pedro Porro and Rodrigo Bentancur could meet for Spain and Uruguay on June 27 in Group H, while Jan Paul van Hecke, one of Brighton’s targets in an unfinished transfer chase, is already in the Netherlands squad. Tottenham have made two offers for Van Hecke but have yet to agree a fee, leaving his club future unresolved as the tournament approaches.
Andy Robertson gives the story a more personal thread. The 31-year-old will not officially join Tottenham until his Liverpool contract expires at the end of the month, but he will captain Scotland at their first World Cup since 1998. Robertson started 11 Premier League games last season, played in all of Scotland’s qualifiers and set up Scott McTominay’s late winner against Belarus. Before Scotland’s opener against Haiti, he wrote a letter and gave a gift to every single member of the squad, a gesture that felt bigger than a pre-match routine.
There is still unfinished business elsewhere in the bracket. Marcos Senesi could yet be added to Argentina’s squad after Leonardo Balerdi’s injury, which would deepen Tottenham’s footprint if the late change comes through. And in Austria, Kevin Danso is not guaranteed a starting place at centre-back because Ralf Rangnick keeps rotating him with David Alaba and Phillip Lienhart. Danso can still play a part from the bench, but the uncertainty means one of Spurs’ most consequential World Cup figures is not locked in for the opening whistle.
For Tottenham, the next chapter arrives in the group stage, where club teammates could end up on opposite sides of the pitch as often as on the same one. Scotland open against Haiti, Croatia face England in a repeat of the 2018 World Cup semi-final and Austria take on Argentina, with Lionel Messi waiting in a match that could matter as much for the club’s summer storylines as for the countries themselves.
