Of the 1,248 footballers from 48 countries who will participate in this year’s World Cup, exactly 10, hailing from nine countries, are based in Cyprus, with seven different clubs being represented across the board.

Among the ten is one veritable household name, though the majority are not stars away from the island or their countries of origin, and all ten representing nations considered to be long shots at best to take football’s greatest prize.

Here are the ten Cyprus-based players who will feature at this year’s World Cup:

Guillermo Ochoa

The one truly world-famous footballer on the list, Guillermo Ochoa has become something of a World Cup cult icon over the past two decades, and will be representing Mexico at his sixth World Cup this summer – a joint record he holds with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Now 40 years old, he signed for AEL last summer, and played 26 games across all competitions for the Limassol-based side, keeping six clean sheets as they finished in eighth place in the first division.

Thapelo Maseko

The 22-year-old South African winger finds himself at the opposite end of his career to Ochoa, but was his club teammate during the second half of last season, joining AEL on loan from South African side Mamelodi Sundowns from January.

He played 15 times for AEL since then, scoring once in the league and once in the Cyprus Cup.

Ivan Sunjic

Born in Zenica to an ethnically Croatian family, Sunjic switched his allegiance from Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2024, having previously played for the Croatian national team.

The defensive midfielder joined Pafos FC from Birmingham City in 2024, and last year played 46 times across all competitions, including seven of the Cypriot outfit’s Champions League fixtures, though he missed last month’s Cyprus Cup final victory with a muscle injury.

Milos Degenek

The Croatia-born centre half has played 57 times for Australia since making his international debut in 2016, and will be travelling to his third World Cup, having been named in the squads for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

He played every game for the Socceroos in Qatar, and joined Apoel from Serbian side TSC in January, playing 11 times in all competitions and scoring once as the Nicosia-based side finished fifth in the league.

Ken Sema

The 32-year-old Swedish midfielder is most well known to football fans for a six-and-a-half-year stint at Watford, and has played 33 times for his national team over the course of the last nine years.

He was considered unlucky to miss out on Sweden’s squad for the 2018 World Cup, but was selected by Graham Potter this time around. He has played his club football at Pafos FC since January last year, and played 36 times in all competitions last season, but, like Sunjic, missed the Cyprus Cup final victory.

Garry Rodrigues

One of two Cape Verdeans based in Cyprus who are going to the World Cup, Rodrigues, at 35 years old, is in the twilight of a career which has taken in La Liga and both Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, among other clubs across Europe and further afield.

Now at Apollon, the winger played 36 times and scored six goals in all competitions as the Limassol-based side qualified for the Conference League by finishing third in the island’s domestic league, and played every minute of the side’s Cyprus Cup final defeat.

Willy Semedo

Cyprus’ second Cape Verdean international has truly made the island his home, having first moved to the country in 2014 to play for Alki Oroklini. Twelve years on, the 32-year-old winger is now a fan favourite at Omonia, with his career having taken in stints in Belgium, Romania, France, Saudi Arabia, and Paphos in the intervening years.

He notched 22 goals in 43 games across all competitions last year as Nicosia-based outfit won their 22nd domestic league title.

Youssef Amyn

The 22-year-old German-born winger will be representing Iraq at the country’s first ever World Cup appearance, having become a regular starter for the national team since making his debut for them in 2023, and even featuring for the side at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

He joined AEK Larnaca a year ago, and scored twice in 14 appearances for the side last season as they qualified for the Conference League by virtue of finishing as runners-up in the island’s domestic league.

Gedeon Kalulu

The 28-year-old full back who hails from DR Congo is the only player from Aris Limassol who will be present at the World Cup, and has featured 20 times for his national team since making his debut in 2020.

Born in Lyon, he spent his entire career in France before making the switch to Cyprus last summer, and played 17 times for Aris Limassol last season, missing three months of football in the spring after undergoing surgery on his cruciate ligament.

Derrick Luckassen

A late bloomer on the international stage, the 30-year-old centre half only made his international debut for Ghana in March, playing the final half hour of a 2-1 defeat against Germany in a friendly in Stuttgart.

That fixture is his only one thus far for the Black Stars, and he made the World Cup squad after Spartak Moscow’s Alexander Djiku withdrew due to injury. Luckassen has played his club football for Pafos FC since 2024, and played 47 times in all competitions last season, scoring six times.