Historic milestone of 14 Muslim-majority nations are competing in the 2026 World Cup

Exactly how many individual Muslim players are in the 2026 World Cup is not officially tracked by FIFA. However, the tournament features a historic milestone of 14 Muslim-majority nations competing. With 48 teams (26 players each, for a total of 1,248 players), the estimated number of Muslim players across all national teams—including those representing non-Muslim-majority countries in Europe and Africa—is well into the dozens.

The 14 Muslim-majority nations competing in the 2026 World Cup are:

Algeria
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Egypt
Iran
Iraq
Ivory Coast
Jordan
Morocco
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Tunisia
Türkiye
Uzbekistan

Many Muslim players at the World Cup 2026 have been doing the same celebration after scoring a goal, but what exactly does it mean? The sajdah, which is a prostration position used in daily prayers, is now gaining more attention at global sports events.

14 Muslim-majority countries qualified for the #WorldCup.

This is the most ever, largely due to the expanded field (48) of this Cup, but nevertheless noteworthy. Muslim nations comprise roughly 30% of the entire field.

But we have to notice that there are also Christians with Bosnia , Quatar , Morocco , Tunisia, Uzbekistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia too.

mirna.mestrovic said: Zlatan Ibrahimovic has a Muslim surname but mother Croatian Christian and father Muslim from Yugoslavia and his choice of religion is Christian. This is the example of how Bosnian Muslims were in the past and still are. Marrying other religions, not following Sharia law and doing whatever everyone else is doing in West Europe.

Six Muslim Nations Reach the World Cup Knockout Stage