By David Owen
July 5 – Manchester City have more World Cup survivors at the quarter-final stage than any other club.
The English champions could field their own Russia 2018 quarter-finalists’ team. With four members of both the Brazil and England squads, the Blues are two players clear of another Premier League club side, Tottenham, who have nine remaining World Cup survivors, more than half of them Englishmen.
English clubs feature heavily among the best performers by this yardstick, as do their Russian counterparts, spurred by the hosts’ surprise run to the last eight. There is a good Spanish representation too, in spite of that nation’s early exit. Barcelona, for example, have players in five of the eight remaining squads.
The listing, which is based on squad lists circulated ahead of the tournament irrespective of subsequent transfers or transfer rumours, is of much more than academic interest: FIFA will pay clubs based on how long their employees are needed at the competition, so the classification offers a broad idea of who is likely to get the biggest slice of this pie.
Clubs supplying 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. A total of 184 players all told have managed to keep their World Cup-winning dreams alive ahead of the quarter-final matches, which will take place on Friday and Saturday.
CLUBS WITH MOST FIFA WORLD CUP SURVIVORS
11 – Manchester City (England)
9 – Tottenham Hotspur (England)
8 – Chelsea (England), Manchester United (England), Paris Saint-Germain (France)
7 – Barcelona (Spain)
6 – Atlético Madrid (Spain)
5 – CSKA Moscow (Russia), Juventus (Italy), Liverpool (England), Real Madrid (Spain), Zenit Saint Petersburg (Russia)
4 – Internazionale (Italy), Krasnodar (Russia), Monaco (France)
In the Russia 2018 Battle of Brands, Nike squads continue to perform well in the matches that matter.
The Swoosh brand has a team in each of the quarter-finals. Indeed, with France, Brazil, England and Croatia sporting its uniforms, it is far from inconceivable that the competition’s final week could be an all-Nike affair.
Adidas retains three teams, including the hosts and Brazil’s next opponents Belgium, while Switzerland’s exit means that Uruguay are Puma’s sole surviving representative.
Taking into account all matches played so far at the tournament, and counting Last 16 games decided by penalty shoot-out as draws, Puma teams still claim the best overall record with a theoretical points ratio of 57.1%.
Nike continues to close the gap, rising to 52.4%, while Adidas teams’ record now stands at 47.7%. Denmark, the only squad sporting Hummel uniforms, exited the tournament after a Sunday night shoot-out, leaving their theoretical points ratio at 50%.
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