- © DFL
- © DFL
Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 stars to watch in FIFA World Cup 2026 Groups B and C
A host of Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 stars are set to meet on football's biggest stage at the FIFA World Cup 2026. We crunch the numbers on Groups B and C, where Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Morocco and Switzerland will be bolstered by some elite Germany-based talent...
Group B
Ermedin Demirović (VfB Stuttgart)
- Demirović, 28, formed a prolific partnership with Germany forward Deniz Undav in 2025/26, registering 12 goals in 25 Bundesliga appearances.
- Hamburg-born Demirović has represented Bosnia at U17, U19 and U21 level.
- He has 42 senior caps to his name, with his latest coming in their Matchday 2 defeat to Switzerland.
Watch: Demirović's maiden Bundesliga hat-trick
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- Džeko is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s all-time top scorer with 73 international goals.
- He won the Bundesliga title with Wolfsburg in 2008/09, scoring 26 league goals that season.
- Across his club career in Germany, England, Italy and Türkiye, Džeko has scored 377 senior goals.
- He became the oldest goalscorer in Bundesliga 2 history earlier this season after netting against Kaiserslautern, aged 39 years and 314 days.
- Katić was absent from senior international football for seven years. The centre-back played one game for Croatia in 2017, before switching his international allegiance to Bosnia in 2024.
- Now a regular at international level, Katić has only missed one of Bosnia's last 10 games.
- He was one of Schalke head coach Miron Muslić's first signings, having first linked up with the 43-year-old during a loan spell at English club Plymouth Argyle.
Watch: Džeko - Made in the Bundesliga
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About the players
- Vasilj, 30, made 167 competitive appearances for St. Pauli after joining in 2021.
- The stopper has been capped 28 times by Bosnia and was the penalty shoot-out hero against both Wales and Italy in the FIFA World Cup qualification play-offs.
Canada
Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich)
- Davies made history as the first player born in the 2000s to play in Major League Soccer, aged just 15 years, eight months and 15 days. All told, he turned out 65 times in MLS, tallying eight goals and 12 assists - all before the age of 18.
- In a June 2017 friendly match against Curaçao, Davies become the youngest player to represent Canada at international at the age of 16.
- In 2020, the 25-year-old became the first Canadian to win the UEFA Champions League after playing a defining role in Bayern Munich's triumph.
- Davies scored Canada's first-ever goal at a World Cup finals in the 2022 edition, netting in a 4-1 defeat to Croatia.
Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies is set to captain Canada on home soil. - IMAGO/Jorge Martinez
Switzerland
Aurèle Amenda (Eintracht Frankfurt)
- Amenda was part of the Young Boys team that won a historic Swiss league and cup double in the 2022/23 season.
- The 22-year-old centre-back is yet to score a goal in professional football, having only netted for Young Boys' Under-21 side.
- He started 15 of Eintracht's final 16 Bundesliga games last term, lifting his overall appearance tally for the Eagles to 42.
Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund)
- Kobel has been named in the Bundesliga Team of the Season on three occasions.
- He recorded the most clean sheets in the Bundesliga last season, with 15 from his 34 games.
- The 28-year-old succeeded legendary Bundesliga stopper Yan Sommer to become Switzerland's first-choice keeper after UEFA Euro 2024.
- Manzambi, 20, scored five goals and provided four assists in 27 Bundesliga appearances during his breakthrough 2025/26 campaign for Freiburg.
- The midfielder helped Freiburg reach their first major European final, scoring in the UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg against Braga before being named the competition’s Young Player of the Season.
- After making his senior Switzerland debut in 2025, he scored three goals in his first 10 international appearances, including a crucial World Cup qualifying goal against Sweden.
- He then announced himself on the World Cup stage with a brace off the bench to help the Swiss overcome Bosnia in their second group game in a 4-1 win.
Watch: Manzambi on the way to the very top
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Group C
Morocco
Bilal El Khannouss (VfB Stuttgart)
- Having represented Belgium as a youngster, El Khannouss switched international allegiance to Morocco in time for the 2022 World Cup.
- The Stuttgart attacker was part of the Morocco side that won a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympic Games football tournament. He scored in a 6-0 rout of North African rivals Egypt in the bronze medal match.
- The 22-year-old is a two-time recipient of the coveted Belgian Golden Shoe Best Young Player award, which he won in 2022 and 2023 after impressive campaigns with Genk.
Click here for the full list of Bundesliga/ Bundesliga 2 players at the World Cup
About the clubs
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