An Italian player who will defend Australia. A Marcelo in Canada, a Gana in Senegal, a Sambo in Curação and a Samba in France. Also the famous Zidane, Zico and Weah, but none of them playing for France, Brazil or Liberia.
These will be some of the 1,248 names we will see at the 2026 World Cup, which starts on the 11th – Brazil only debuts on the 13th.
Zico, however, the Brazilians will be able to see before Mundia, during the friendly against Egypt, Saturday, at 7pm, in Cleveland (USA).
Mostafa Mohamed Zaky Abdelraouf will have the name Zico printed on his number 11 shirt for the Egyptian national team. At 29 years old, he currently plays for Pyramids, one of the main teams in his country.
Zidane, Weah and Kluivert are not nicknames, but the surnames of their famous parents. The three are children of stars who have shone for France, Liberia and the Netherlands, respectively.
Of the three, only Weah maintained his father’s position: striker. But, unlike George, he will be wearing number 21 for the United States, which will face Paraguay, Australia and Turkey in Group D.
Born in Marseille (France), Luca Zinedine Zidane took the opposite path from his father, wearing number 10 who led the French team to the 1998 title. He will wear shirt 23 and has a good chance of being the starting goalkeeper for Algeria, who are in the World Cup in a group with Argentina, Jordan and Austria. So, we could see Messi x Zidane on the 16th.
Kluivert, in this case Justin Dean, may have to compete for a place in midfield with Corinthians Memphis Depay (who will also adopt only Memphis in the World Cup). His father, Patrick, was an absolute starter in the Dutch attack in the 1994 World Cup.
‘STRANGS’ IN THE NEST
In the World Cup there will be other names that may cause surprise. Not because of the name itself, but because they are Portuguese-speaking, but will not be in countries like Brazil, Portugal and Cape Verde.
This is how you will see the Italian defender wearing Australia’s number 4 shirt. Italian is Jacob Michael’s last name.
Moreira will be in the Belgian team with the number 19 shirt. A left-back born in Liége (Belgium), he is the son of Almami Moreira, a former player who was born in Guinea-Bissau.
Livramento will appear twice. One with Cape Verde’s number 19 shirt (ok!) and another on England’s right flank. Born in London and the son of a Portuguese father, Valentino Francisco Livramento plays for Newcastle (ING) and was chosen to wear the number 12 shirt.
Ghana will wear Senegal’s number 5 shirt. This is the second name of midfielder Idrissa Gana Gueye. The Senegalese team is in Group I with France, Norway and Iraq. The Ghanaians are in Group L with Panama, England and Croatia.
Sambo and Samba will be wearing the Curaçao and France shirts, respectively. Both have their last names on their shirts.
The name Marcelo, who was the owner of Brazil’s left flank in the 2014 World Cup, will be on Canada’s number 26 shirt worn by the Canadian midfielder, son of a Mexican.
And, finally, if you are not very familiar with international football, Mané will return to the field for Senegal. The striker will be number 10 for the African team. If today he defends the Saudi Al-Nassr, he was once one of the main players in the world.
Playing for Liverpool, he was English’s top scorer in 18/19, won the Fifa Socrates Award in 2022, and came second in the 2022 Ballon d’Or voting.
