Most representatives to major international tournaments are sent either by the top clubs or leading teams from weak championships, where only a few local teams represent the national team. In the case of the current world champions, football today has a skew toward tournaments from the top-5 list. That is, it is there where the strongest and most famous players play. The names of the best teams and players rarely change and consistently top the charts, so it’s no surprise that World Cup winners rarely look past England, Italy, Spain, Germany or France.
If talking specifically about the club division, it is worth noting that there are some surprises. According to today’s situation, as of January 2023, the reigning world football champions play for Atlético Madrid. That’s five players: Griezmann, Lemar, Molina, De Paul, and Correa. Next comes Bayern, PSG, Sevilla, Villarreal, Betis and Juventus. This list shows that in addition to the apparent grandees of world football, there are also the middles. It is also worth noting that the leader, by a wide margin, is Spanish La Liga. England is far behind in this regard.
Statistics of the reigning world champions by league
Enthusiastic soccer fans, who try not to miss the live soccer of their favorite league, often compare the strength of their championship with the champions from the top five. Some say that the EPL is the strongest and most spectacular, but the comparison by playing world champions will not favor the EPL. The winner is La Liga. So, the list itself, as of January 2023, looks like this:
- La Liga has 20 champions, including five 2010 World Cup champions.
- EPL, where there are ten champions.
- Ligue 1, with nine world champions.
- Bundesliga, where nine champions also play.
- Serie A and eight reigning champion players.
Of the list of significant world soccer championships, only one world champion player from 2006 has yet to finish his career. Instead, it is goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who still plays for his native Parma. He is already 44 years old, but he still shows decent quality soccer, as every fan can see live – a fantastic example of soccer longevity and passion for the game itself. Of the most recent World Champions, only Blaise Matuidi, who earned his title in 2018, ended his career. Before that, he represented the American league MLS, where besides him, there is also a representative of the 2022 World Cup winning team, namely Thiago Almada.