- © DFL
- © DFL
Bundesliga stars to watch in FIFA World Cup 2026 Groups F and G
A host of stars from Germany’s top two leagues are set to meet on football's biggest stage as Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden and Tunisia battle it out in Group F and Belgium, Egypt, Iran and New Zealand lock horns in Group G of the FIFA World Cup 2026. We crunch the numbers on some of the Bundesliga players set to be involved...
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Group F
Japan
Ritsu Dōan (Eintracht Frankfurt)
- Dōan scored two goals at the 2022 World Cup, including a last-minute winner against Germany, which proved crucial to Japan making it through to the knockout stages against the odds.
- The attacking midfielder, who can also play on the right wing, recorded 27 goals and 23 assists in three Bundesliga seasons at Freiburg, before making the switch to Frankfurt last summer.
- Injuries restricted Ito's Bundesliga starts to 10 during the 2025/26 season.
- The versatile defender made a cameo appearance in Bayern's 3-0 win over Stuttgart in the 2026 DFB Cup final, lifting the trophy for the first time in his career.
- He has 25 caps for Japan, with his lone international goal coming against Peru in June 2023.
Bayern Munich's Hiroki Ito will likely be one of Japan's key players at the finals. - Koji Watanabe
- For the second consecutive season, Sano started every single Bundesliga match, as Mainz eventually finished 10th.
- The 25-year-old defensive midfielder covered 401.1 km over the course of the campaign, putting him third in the league's chart for that metric.
- Suzuki scored 21 goals in 58 matches in all competitions for Danish club Brøndby, and it was that strong form that resulted in Freiburg acquiring his signature in July 2025.
- Playing 41 times in all competitions in his debut campaign for Freiburg, Suzuki helped Julian Schuster's side reach the UEFA Europa League final and secure a seventh place finish, enough to qualify for the Conference League play-offs.
- On an individual level, he scored four times and provided two assists in the Bundesliga in 2025/26. He also scored four times in Europe.
Yuito Suzuki established himself as an important player for Freiburg in his debut Bundesliga campaign. - IMAGO/Grant Hubbs
Netherlands
Mark Flekken (Bayer Leverkusen)
- Flekken, 32, made his debut between the sticks for the Netherlands in a friendly with Denmark in March 2022.
- The Leverkusen shot-stopper, who previously starred for Freiburg, missed two months of the second half of the season through injury, but returned to help his team-mates secure a spot in the UEFA Europa League.
- He is one of the rare goalkeepers to have scored during a competitive fixture, notching a late equaliser for Duisburg in a third-tier clash with Osnabrück during the 2016/17 season.
Sweden
Mattias Svanberg (Wolfsburg)
- Svanberg, 27, is set to play his first major tournament for Sweden since his making his debut at the age of 20 in a UEFA Euro qualifying match against the Faroe Islands in 2019.
- Since then, injuries have continued to hinder his game time both at club and national level. In the 2025/26 season, he suffered multiple spells on the sidelines, restricting him to 27 appearances.
- He started both legs of the relegation play-off against Paderborn, but could not help Wolfsburg secure safety as they dropped down to Bundesliga 2. In the 2025/26 season, the versatile Swede racked up three goals and one assist in the Bundesliga.
Daniel Svensson (Borussia Dortmund)
- Svensson made his Sweden debut at the age of 22 in the UEFA Nations League against Estonia in 2024. Since then, he has accumulated 13 caps.
- In his first full season in the Bundesliga, the Dortmund full-back made 33 appearances, starting 27 times for Niko Kovač's side.
- Though he's only scored two goals and assisted a further two in the 2025/26 season, the industrious Swede has made quite the impression since joining in January 2025, with Kovač dubbing him the team's "Duracell Bunny".
Watch: Daniel Svensson's goal against Mainz
Daniel Svensson goal vs. Mainz
Tunisia
- Former Germany U19 international Rani Khedira officially became a Tunisia international this year, making his first appearance against Haiti in an international friendly.
- Ending the season on a high after helping Die Eisernen secure their Bundesliga status, Khedira also enjoyed his best campaign to date in terms of attacking contributions, scoring five and assisting one.
Ellyes Skhiri (Eintracht Frankfurt)
- Frankfurt midfielder Skhiri heads into his third World Cup with Tunisia at the age of 31, having played every minute of every match at the 2018 and 2022 editions.
- Skhiri, with 81 caps for Tunisia, heads into the World Cup as his country's captain for the first time.
Rani Khedira has been an ever-present in Union Berlin's midfield since he joined the club in 2021. - IMAGO/nordphoto GmbH / Engler
Group G
Belgium
Arthur Theate (Eintracht Frankfurt)
- After spells in Italy and France, Theate arrived in Germany in the summer of 2024, signing for Frankfurt, initially on loan, converting to a permanent signing in February 2025.
- The 26-year-old, who is capable of playing at the centre back as well as left-back, scored his first goal for Frankfurt this season, with a header against Cologne on Matchday 11.
- Called by up Belgium for the World Cup, Theate has been capped 33 times so far and has already played at Euro 2024 as well as the 2022 World Cup.
Click here for the full list of Bundesliga/ Bundesliga 2 players at the World Cup
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