The FIFA World Cup will return for its 23rd instalment in 2026. 48 of the world’s best national teams are set to head to North America to battle out for one of the most prestigious competitions in global sport. Past Roma players have graced the world’s biggest football stage dozens of times, and, of course, several homegrown stars have won the whole thing – including legends like Bruno Conti, Cafu and Francesco Totti.
But who’s likely to go next year, and who might miss out? And aside from the well known winners who else has won the World Cup while at Roma? This is AS Roma’s many connections to the World Cup.
Roma Players Who Have Won World Cups
In total, 16 players have won the World Cup while also signed for Roma. Some notable examples include:
- Attilio Ferraris, Enrique Guaita (Italy, 1934)
- Bruno Conti (Italy, 1982)
- Rudi Völler and Thomas Berthold (West Germany, 1990)
- Aldair (Brazil, 1994)
- Vincent Candela (France 1998)
- Marcos Cafu (Brazil, 1994 and 2002)
- Daniele De Rossi, Simone Perrotta and Francesco Totti (2006, Italy)
- Current player Paolo Dybala (Argentina, 2022)
Looking at that, you can see there was a Roma player in all five World Cup winning sides between 1990 and 2006. You won’t find many clubs with a better record in World Cup winning representation. Some history!
If you want to ensure you were front row for the next historic matchups, there’s only one thing to do. Lock in your seat for the biggest tournament ever with world cup 2026 tickets. Especially for American Roma fans, this one could be special. Get yours in now, and avoid the disappointment of not seeing your favorite players in action across the best stadiums in North America.
Speaking of great stadiums, AS Roma’s stadium has also hosted several World Cup matches. The Stadio Nazionale (home to Roma for 13 years) hosted the 1934 World Cup final and the Stadio Olimpico hosted the 1990 final, as well as Italy’s matches up to the quarter final.
The 2026 World Cup – Will Italy Qualify?
If Italy qualify for the World Cup, Roma players Lorenzo Pelligrini and Gianluca Mancini are nailed on to be in the squad. But – the Azzurri’s qualification is at the moment far from certain.
After starting out with a 3-0 loss to Norway, that led to a change in management, with Gennaro Gattuso taking over from Luciano Spalletti. The new look national team rallied to batter Estonia 5-0. But then, struggled to beat Israel in thrilling 5-4 home match at the San Siro.
Level on points with Israel in second place in Group C, the Azzurri will need to be on good form in the final few games. Especially with the last, and potentially decisive, game being against a rampant group leader Norway who have scored 21 goals in five games. Unless the Norwegians fall off a cliff and lose three of their four remaining games, Italy looks likely to be playing for a second play play-off spot.
Despite the Italian’s proud World Cup record of four wins, and a recent European Cup victory, the Azzurri did not qualify for the World Cup in 2018 or 2022. With the recent change in management, it is still possible – but there’s no room for error in the remaining fixtures.
Interesting Fact: Two of three World Cup Finals that went to penalties had a Roma player take (and score) a decisive penalty – De Rossi in 2006 against France and Dybala for Argentina in 2022, also against France. In the other final that went to penalties (1994) Roma’s Aldair and Cafu were playing for the winning Brazil, against Italy, but neither took a penalty in the shootout.
Which Other Roma Players Could Go?
Out of the teams that are guaranteed qualification for the 2026 World Cup so far, two are almost certain to call up a Roma player. That is Argentina with Paolo Dybala, and Brazil’s Wesley.
Dybala recently picked up an injury playing for Roma against Torino and will be sidelined for a couple of weeks. But, that shouldn’t rule him out of Argentina’s World Cup plans where he is considered a key player this time around. Although somewhat of an understudy of Lionel Messi for many years, Dybala’s decisive penalty in the 2022 final showed his confidence – and the team’s confidence in him.
With Messi still not 100% on agreeing to play, and also now four years older at 38, this could be Dybala’s time to shine for Argentina – if he can stay fit.
Young full back Wesley is in Carlo Ancelotti’s plans for Brazil, being the only Serie A player in the Brazil squad. He fills the now almost traditional position of being a Brazilian national team full back playing for Roma. However, at 22 and his first World Cup, he isn’t expected to play a major role.
Outside of those two already qualified, current Roma players also in squads looking likely to qualify for the 2026 World Cup include young Polish centre back Jan Ziółkowski and on-loan from Liverpool Greek left-back Konstantinos Tsimikas.
