World Cup 2026: The Premier League clubs fighting a World Cup hangover
The Premier League season begins on 21 August, just 33 days after the World Cup final, presenting a significant challenge for clubs with players involved in the tournament. For some clubs this leaves barely enough time to welcome players back from the mandatory three-week post-tournament break required under FIFA regulations, let alone integrate them into pre-season preparations.
Four players were still involved on the final weekend of the tournament and may have little more than a week of training before the new campaign starts. Tottenham are among the clubs whose pre-season preparations have been most significantly impacted. Cristian Romero and new signing Marcos Senesi reached the final with Argentina while Pedro Porro helped Spain lift the trophy. Djed Spence remained with England until the third-place play-off on 18 July. Assuming players take the minimum three weeks off under FIFA guidelines, Romero, Senesi and Porro would not return until 9 August while Spence's earliest return date would be 8 August. That leaves them with around two weeks to reintegrate before their Premier League season begins on 22 August.
For managers the challenge is not simply the absence itself. Players returning so late miss much of pre-season's tactical work, conditioning sessions and friendly matches, creating a difficult balancing act between preparation and recovery.
Manchester City and Arsenal meanwhile had the greatest concentration of players making deep runs into the competition. City's World Cup contingent featured for several of the tournament's leading nations. Rodri helped Spain win their second men's World Cup after playing 726 minutes while Marc Guehi and Elliot Anderson helped England reach the final weekend. Nico O'Reilly featured in England's semi-final run while Erling Haaland and Jeremy Doku both reached the quarter-finals. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka remained involved until England's 6-4 victory over France in the third-place play-off while Martin Zubimendi and Mikel Merino reached the final with Spain.
The workload concerns are already being felt. City's Rodri recently had back surgery and is expected to miss a short period at the start of the season while William Saliba avoided surgery but has confirmed he will be sidelined for an extended period because of a back issue. The World Cup's biggest workload belonged to goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez who played all 810 minutes of Argentina's run to the final.