World Cup 2026: Final 48 Squads Confirmed — Who Misses Out

The deadline has passed and the picture is complete: all 48 nations heading to the 2026 World Cup have submitted their final squads, which FIFA published in full on Tuesday. With the tournament — the first co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, kicking off on June 11 — less than ten days away, managers are locked in, with one exception only: a medically confirmed serious injury.

What happened and why it matters

June 1 was the official cut-off for 26-man squad submissions. FIFA has confirmed that an injured player can be replaced up to 24 hours before a team's opening match, a rule the governing body approved in mid-May. The door stays ajar for medical cases — but not for tactical second thoughts.

For readers across Europe, the immediate intrigue is simple: who made the final cut, and who was left on the platform. Several European managers' calls have already sparked debate.

Spain: Yamal in, but with a fitness question mark

Lamine Yamal was named in Spain's forward line alongside Mikel Oyarzabal, Dani Olmo, Nico Williams, Ferran Torres and Yéremy Pino. The good news for the European champions comes with a caveat: the Barcelona star is doubtful for the opening group game and possibly the second, with the most optimistic recovery timeline pointing to the final group fixture.

Spain's second talking point is structural: not a single Real Madrid player made the final squad — a striking first for a major tournament and a signal of how the balance of talent within Spain has shifted.

France: Saliba makes the cut despite the doubts

William Saliba, flagged as a doubt in the build-up, was confirmed in France's defensive ranks alongside Ibrahima Konaté, Dayot Upamecano, Jules Koundé and the Hernández brothers. For a side built on defensive solidity, the Arsenal man's inclusion is no small matter.

A wave of late injuries

The final days before the deadline brought a string of losses. Brazil travel without Rodrygo, sidelined for months by an ACL and meniscus tear, and without Estêvão, ruled out by a muscle problem — a double blow to Carlo Ancelotti's attack. In Europe, Scotland lost Billy Gilmour, replaced by Tyler Fletcher, while Sweden dropped Emil Holm. Beyond the continent, South Korea confirmed defender Jo Yu-min will miss the tournament with a ruptured plantar fascia and an eight-week prognosis.

The Redge AI Perspective

Beyond the headlines, a high-calibre absence concretely changes a nation's maths. Redge's Poisson model starts from each team's estimated scoring and conceding rates; removing a creator like Rodrygo from Brazil's equation lowers the projected volume of quality chances (xG), which in turn recalibrates the estimated probability of a high-scoring match downward and pulls "1-0 / 2-1" scenarios toward the centre of the distribution.

For Spain, the uncertainty over Yamal's availability introduces a variable the model handles through weighted scenarios: the estimated probability of progressing from the group remains high, but the margin over their rivals thins precisely in the first two matchdays, when his absence would be most likely. Redge's Triple AI consensus treats these cases not as verdicts but as probability distributions that update as medical confirmations arrive.

The key point: this is not about who "will win," but about how the probabilities shift when a squad changes. That is the foundation of calm analysis, not prediction.

What comes next

With squads locked, attention turns to the final warm-up friendlies and the fitness of the doubtful names — Yamal above all. The medical-replacement window stays open until 24 hours before each team's opener, so the picture could see minor tweaks. Redge will track every confirmation and recalibrate its group-by-group analysis as the tournament nears.

Full group analysis and updated probabilities: redge.bet/#worldcup