FC Barcelona defender João Cancelo has been named in a 26 man squad for the upcoming World Cup by Portuguese national team coach Roberto Martínez. Since arriving in the January transfer window on loan from Saudi club Al-Hilal, the versatile Cancelo has put in a series of impressive performances for Barça, helping them to the league title under coach Hansi Flick. 

Second World Cup for Cancelo 

The 2026 tournament in the USA, Mexico and Canada will be a second World Cup for João Cancelo after his appearances for Portugal in the 2022 Qatar World Cup where the team reached the quarter-finals before being knocked out by Morocco. 

CANCELO

Portugal, a strong candidate 

Roberto Martínez's squad are one of the teams to watch when the tournament gets under way on 11 June. Alongside Cancelo, players such as Nuno Mendes, João Neves, Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo makes Portugal strongly fancied to go far in the 2026 World Cup .

Three culers already selected

Cancelo is the third Barça player to be named in a World Cup squad so far with Jules Kounde included for France and Raphinha for Brazil. 

 

Força Barça