Clubs of Russia 2018’s dearly departed players

By David Owen

June 29 – Exactly half – 368 – of the players who started Russia 2018 have now had their World Cup dreams shattered. But where do these dearly departed play their club football? Who employs the most squad members eliminated from the competition in the group stages?

It will probably come as no surprise, given Germany’s sensational early exit following defeats by Mexico and South Korea, that Bayern are close to the top of this particular list.

The Bavarian giants’ tally of eight eliminated players is good enough for third place, just behind two of the Saudi Arabian clubs which provided much of the desert nation’s squad, and just ahead of two Egyptian clubs.

In terms of nationality, English and Welsh clubs provide by far the most early World Cup casualties, enough for two and a bit squads. Saudi Arabia comes second and Germany third.

The failure of Egypt and Senegal to qualify means that two of Liverpool’s erstwhile ‘Fab Four’ front men – Mo Salah and Sadio Mané – are headed home, while the Brazilian duo Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho (now of Barcelona) remain in Russia.

Early elimination has financial consequences for clubs, since the FIFA payments they stand to receive depend partly on how long their particular players spend at the tournament. As previously reported, clubs which supply squad members can look forward to payments of around $8,530 per player per day, in recognition of their “contribution to the successful staging” of the tournament.

Having gone through the squads, I have drawn up the following lists of clubs and nationalities:

Clubs with the most players knocked out of the World Cup after the group stages:

10 Al-Ahli (Saudi Arabia), Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia), 8 Bayern Munich (Germany), 7 Al Ahly (Egypt), 5 Zamalek (Egypt), 4 Leicester City (England), Bursaspor (Turkey), Esteghlal (Iran), Benfica (Portugal), Feyenoord (Netherlands), Stoke City (England), 3 Rennes (France), Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (South Korea), Deportivo Saprissa (Costa Rica), Deportivo La Coruña (Spain), Rostov (Russia), Schalke 04 (Germany), Veracruz (Mexico), Torino (Italy), Real Madrid (Spain), Juventus (Italy), Liverpool (England), Arsenal (England), Aston Villa (England), Al-Shabab (Saudi Arabia), Al-Nassr (Saudi Arabia), Paris Saint-Germain (France), Napoli (Italy), Chelsea (England).

Country where eliminated players play club football:

50 England/Wales, 29 Saudi Arabia, 28 Germany, 19 France, Italy, 17 Spain, 14 United States, Egypt, 13 Turkey, South Korea, 12 Russia.

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