The upcoming international break is the final opportunity national team managers will have to look at their players ahead of this summer’s World Cup. As you would expect of a team on the hunt for a famous quadruple, plenty of Arsenal players will be involved. Thomas Tuchel has picked Gunners stars Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, and Noni Madueke as expected. Myles Lewis Skelly and Max Dowman won’t have a chance to impress the England manager up close.
Online betting sites are optimistic that the Three Lions may well finally end 60 long years of hurt this summer. The latest World Cup odds at Bovada list England as an 11/2 second-favourite, narrowly behind 9/2 frontrunners Spain. But while some members of Arsenal’s squad will indeed be on duty with their national teams, not all have yet secured their spots at the World Cup.
Three Gunners still have to run the gauntlet of the European playoffs, all of them needing to win a semifinal and a final during the next international window to punch their tickets to this summer’s North American showdown. So, who are they, and how did they fall into the lottery of the playoffs? Let’s take a look.
Viktor Gyökeres
Sweden headed into World Cup qualifying as a team with plenty of hope. Arsenal hitman Viktor Gyökeres and his strike partner Alexander Isak were the main reasons for that. On paper, the two of them should form one of Europe’s most fearsome strike forces. But in practice, that hasn’t been the case.
After being drawn into a group with Switzerland, Slovenia, and Kosovo, a World Cup berth was considered a given. Then, Sweden’s menacing frontline misfired. Neither Gyökeres nor Isak scored a single goal throughout the Blågult’s qualifying campaign. As a result, the Scandinavian outfit couldn’t secure a single win, finishing rock bottom of their group. Luckily, their performances in the UEFA Nations League secured them a spot in the playoffs, and former Chelsea manager Graham Potter has since signed on to lead his adopted nation to North America.
Since that final qualifier back in November, Isak has been crocked with a broken leg, piling more pressure on Gyökeres to fire the goals Sweden needs to reach the World Cup. As we have seen at the Emirates, the former Sporting CP man thrives as a lone striker rather than sharing the spotlight, and Potter will be hoping that remains the case in the playoffs.
Gyökeres and Sweden will first face off against Ukraine in Valencia, with the Ukrainians unable to host the game in their homeland due to global events. Should Potter’s men come through that test, then they will host the playoff final in Stockholm against the winner of Poland vs. Albania.
Riccardo Calafiori
Riccardo Calafiori has endured an injury-hit campaign at the Emirates this term. The former Bologna man bagged Arsenal’s first goal of the season in the 1-0 victory away at Manchester United. But since then, he has had to spend a prolonged amount of time on the sideline, watching on as Piero Hincapié claimed the left back role for himself. Still, the 23-year-old has recovered just in time to represent Italy in their time of need.
It has been 12 long years since the Azzurri last featured at the World Cup, a scarcely believable statistic in itself. In each of the last three World Cup qualifying cycles, they have had to run the gauntlet of the playoffs. Manager Gennaro Gattuso will hope 2026 ends differently from the last two visits. Back in 2018, the Italians were eliminated by Sweden before being stunned by North Macedonia four years later.
Calafiori has been one of the first names on the team sheet for the last two years, bursting onto the scene at Euro 2024 and never looking back. He will likely be in the starting lineup for Italy’s semifinal against Northern Ireland in Bergamo, and should his side come through that test, Wales or Bosnia will await in the final, away from home.
Christian Nørgaard
Christian Nørgaard has played a bit-part role since arriving at the Emirates from Brentford last summer, but that was always going to be the case. The Dane was fully aware that he was being brought across London as a backup option, standing in for the likes of Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, and Mikel Merino should any of them not be able to compete. So far, he has performed admirably when called upon.
For Denmark, however, it’s a different story entirely. Nørgaard is one of the key players for the Danes, and he will remain exactly that as they embark upon their playoff campaign.
The Rød-Hvide are wondering how they haven’t qualified for the World Cup already. They needed just one win from their final two qualifiers against Belarus and Scotland to punch their tickets to North America; however, they inexplicably drew at home to the Belarussians before falling to a shocking defeat in Glasgow, and now they have to walk the tightrope.
Nørgaard will host North Macedonia in Copenhagen in a semifinal clash that they are widely expected to win. Should they live up to the billing, then they will travel to either the Czech Republic or the Republic of Ireland for a final with a place in the World Cup on the line.