England’s lower professional leagues will see 41 players fight for the Jules Rimet trophy this summer, with Iraq making their second appearance since 1986 and Curacao reaching the world’s biggest tournament for the first time.

The EFL has become the birthplace for players now in the England squad and more recently talent abroad, seeing a record number of countrymen make the trip to North America in June.

Ali Al-Hamadi became the first player ever from Iraq to play in the Premier League in August 2024, coming on for Ipswich against Liverpool, and will be looking to make history again when representing Iraq this summer.

Iraq played their decisive World Cup Intercontinental Playoff game on 1 April, edging out Bolivia with a 2-1 win, as Al-Hamadi scored a vital header to send the nation to their first ever tournament.

At the beginning of the Iraq War, Al-Hamadi and his family moved to Toxteth, Liverpool, where he would grow up and later joined Tranmere Rovers’ youth team before starting his senior career at Wycombe Wanderers.

Al-Hamadi signed for Wimbledon in 2023, scoring 23 goals in 42 games before sealing a big money move to Ipswich Town in 2024.

Speaking to The National about his countries’ chances of qualifying before the key tie against Bolivia, Al-Hamadi said: “If I believed anything else, I might as well not play football, of course I believe we’re going to get there.”

Having a tiny population of just 153,000 people, Curacao, nicknamed the Blue Wave, will be making their debut at the World Cup this summer.

Curacao became the smallest nation by land and area to qualify for the World Cup in November 2025 after drawing 0-0 against Jamaica.

Their squad contains three EFL players, including Tahith Chong for Sheffield United, Sontje Hansen for Middlesbrough and Arjany Martha for Rotherham.

Captain Leandro Bacuna, Curacao’s record appearance maker, made over 100 EFL championship appearances for Aston Villa, Cardiff City and Watford in his career, with his brother Juninho in the squad also playing in the EFL for Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City.

Tahith Chong finally had his request to switch his international allegiance to Curacao in August 2025, having represented the Netherlands throughout his youth career.

He has made a massive impact for Curacao already, scoring 2 goals in just 4 games for the Blue Wave, helping them book their ticket to North America.