The phenomenon of the 2022 World Cup: when the entire national team plays only in their own country’s league.
During the 2022 World Cup, something truly rare happened.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia were unified teams, with 26 players representing them. These players played exclusively in their own national leagues.
In an era of increasingly globalized football, this became a very rare phenomenon during the World Cup.
From our perspective, this is a clear example of how national championships can provide the necessary talent for the world’s most important tournaments. In modern football, where transfer markets are complex, such self-sufficiency is an exception that proves the rule. The statistics from the 2022 World Cup clearly show that even in an era of globalization, local clubs can produce players who are ready to represent their country at a world-level.