Netherlands officially call up former Manchester United duo for 2026 World Cup

The 2026 World Cup is due to kick off in a matter of weeks under a larger format which is seeing 48 teams competing for the first time ever.

In the largest ever edition of the tournament, many nations are appearing for the first time whilst others are making their return after years away.

For others, however, this World Cup marks the latest attempt to try and put their country at the top of the footballing world.

That is the case for the Netherlands, who qualified for the tournament through the UEFA qualification process. In their qualification group, which featured Poland, Finland, Malta, and Lithuania, the Dutch came out on top with twenty points across their eight games.

In a bid for world glory, the nation has now announced its squad with former Manchester United duo Memphis Depay and Wout Weghorst both named in the 26-man team.

Depay, who made 53 appearances for United across a two-year spell, will play in his third World Cup after the 2014 and 2022 editions of the tournament.

Weghorst, on the other hand, is featured in a World Cup squad for the second time after making his global debut during the 2022 tournament.

Matthijs de Ligt is one of the players who misses out, however, with the central defenders continuing to recover from the back surgery that he underwent earlier this month.

The 26-year-old, who played in the 2022 World Cup, has spent a large period of the season out injured with his last appearance coming at the end of November.

Whilst de Ligt’s absence weakens the squad, the Netherlands will hope that it will not affect the nation’s chances of success heavily.

The squad face Algeria and Uzbekistan in friendlies before facing Japan, Sweden, and Tunisia in their group across June.