Arsenal will head into the 2025/26 season with their sights firmly set on adding at least one piece of major silverware to their trophy cabinet.
The Gunners’ success in the 2019/20 FA Cup final was the last time they achieved the feat, and they will be desperate to end the drought next term.
You have to go back to 2003/04 to find the last time Arsenal won the Premier League – a damning statistic for a club of their stature.
Having finished runners-up in each of the last three years, failure is not an option for manager Mikel Arteta this time around.
Arsenal’s quest to win silverware this season is undoubtedly complicated by the unrelenting nature of the annual football calendar.
The Gunners will once again participate in four competitions, while many members of their squad will be featuring for their international teams.
Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in North America will be an unwelcome distraction for Arsenal as they strive to enjoy a productive season.
The tournament next summer creates a further obstacle, given that players will be eager to ensure they do not pick up any injuries ahead of the event.
With that in mind, read on as we look at which Arsenal players will likely be involved at the World Cup and the effect their participation could have on the squad.
Arsenal stars eyeing World Cup spot
Arsenal fans planning to buy FIFA World Cup 2026 tickets on Seatsnet.com will be eager to watch games which involve the club’s players.
England are expected to qualify comfortably for the tournament, and their squad will likely feature three Arsenal players – Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly.
Saka and Rice are nailed-on starters for the Three Lions if they are fit, and Lewis-Skelly could be a good bet to feature at left-back.
David Raya and Mikel Merino should also feature at the World Cup next summer for the 2024 European Championship winners, Spain.
Willian Saliba should be there with France, while Martin Odegaard will be desperate to help Norway qualify for the first time since 1998.
Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Magalhaes could all feature for Brazil as they seek to be crowned world champions for a record-extending sixth time.
Arsenal have several other players who could participate in the World Cup, including Leandro Trossard (Belgium), Jakub Kiwior (Poland), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Ukraine) and Riccardo Calafiori (Italy).
Jurrien Timber (Netherlands), Thomas Partey (Ghana), Kai Havertz (Germany) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (Japan) are also hoping to be at the tournament.
The landscape at Arsenal could change during the summer transfer window, with the club expected to complete several incoming and outgoing moves.
Trossard, Kiwior, Zinchenko and Partey are among the players who could head elsewhere as the Gunners revamp their squad ahead of the upcoming campaign.
All of their potential signings are players who could feature at the World Cup, and the club are unlikely to take that into consideration when conducting their business.
Martin Zubimendi (Spain), Nico Williams (Spain), Benjamin Sesko (Slovenia), Viktor Gyokeres (Sweden) and Leroy Sane (Germany) have been tipped to join Arsenal this summer.
Other moves could come to the fore as the transfer window progresses and will most likely involve players who could be called up by the national teams for the World Cup.
Signing international stars is a necessity for any club with ambitions of challenging for silverware, and Arsenal unquestionably fall into this category.
Packed schedule is problematic for big clubs
The club versus country debate has become increasingly heated in recent years due to the excessive demands placed on professional players.
Very few people dispute the importance of competitions such as the World Cup, European Championship or Copa America, but things get trickier beyond those tournaments.
For instance, the Africa Cup of Nations is often derided in Europe, despite its massive significance for players who have the opportunity to play in the tournament.
Qualifying matches for major tournaments and Nations League fixtures are also viewed as an unwelcome headache for clubs, given how often they disrupt domestic leagues and competitions.
The cycle of international windows in September, October, November, March and June places excessive demands on players and causes issues for clubs.
The expansion of UEFA’s trio of club tournaments and FIFA’s Club World Cup has contributed to a scenario where there are virtually no breaks in the football calendar.
FIFA’s international match calendar offers no opportunity for change until at least 2030, and the governing body is unlikely to rein back its plans to expand the sport.
Several players’ unions have initiated legal proceedings to challenge FIFA’s authority to set the international match calendar without consulting the clubs.
FIFA will use its tried and trusted defence of claiming its role is to protect the interests of all of its 211 member associations to further the development of football.
However, given the substantial body of research that suggests elite players are at a greater risk of injury due to the demands placed on them, something will have to give.
Arsenal suffered significantly with injuries last season – a factor which undoubtedly hindered their chances of ending their trophy drought.
The 2025/26 season promises to be hugely challenging, not only for Arsenal but for every club with a sizeable number of international players in its squad.
Arteta will need to manage the players’ workload even more carefully next season, whilst balancing the club’s need to mount sustained challenges for silverware.
Strengthening the squad this summer is imperative if Arsenal are to have any chance of success.
