The 2026-27 European season is right around the corner. Actually, scratch that: The 2026-27 European season began weeks ago, with Champions League qualifiers in full flow and domestic leagues in Scotland, Austria, Croatia and more getting underway.
But very soon, Europe's major leagues will also get going, and that's a scary thought for some of its top teams, because many are still coming to terms with how the biggest-ever World Cup has affected their preparations for the campaign ahead.
A handful of weeks out from their big kickoffs, many of the world's best players are still (rightfully) on holiday. Some clubs are still missing up to half their squads. There are big question marks over the short- and medium-term health of stars such as Declan Rice and Frenkie de Jong.
Fans are understandably fretting about this, so we decided to run the numbers and see who, among Europe's top clubs, looks set to be affected the most by what happened at the World Cup. To do this, we enlisted the help of a Head of Sports Science at a Champions League club, who flagged up a number of things they'd be looking for and concerned about.
The following criteria were formed:
- Minutes played at the World Cup: Tallying up all the minutes the clubs' representing players played. Results range from just over 2,000 to just under 6,000.
- How many players reached the quarterfinal or beyond? If a team reached the quarterfinals, it meant their players spent at least one month actively training and playing in North America.
- Did any players suffer any major injuries or fitness concerns? From torn ACLs to possible back surgeries to dangerous fatigue levels, who are we worried about?
- Did the team play at the 2025 Club World Cup? It's likely that players who did weren't able to rest appropriately last summer, then launched into a full season, then played a World Cup. This is potentially dangerous.
- Has the team's European situation changed? Some teams have dropped out of UEFA competition and that will help them manage fatigue; but some have reentered and must adapt.
- How many age-30-plus outfielders went to the World Cup? Father Time is unforgiving; older players struggle more with game-load fatigue than younger ones. We've drawn the line at 30, but be aware every single player is different, so it's no foolproof marker.
NOTE: All minutes are taken from My Club's World Cup 2026 and adjusted to reflect transfers that have already happened.
All right, let's get into it.
Standard levels of concern for Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool
Chelsea (2,226 minutes), Tottenham (3,232 minutes) and Liverpool (3,256 minutes) had significant exposure to the World Cup in terms of player participation, but mercifully, most of the other categories don't concern them too much. Neither Chelsea nor Spurs will play UEFA competition football this coming season, which will massively reduce their game load and boost their ability to manage fatigue. Spurs also didn't play in the Club World Cup last summer, so they're looking at as close to a fresh slate as modern football can offer a big club.
Despite Liverpool's players making big waves early on at the World Cup in terms of performance levels, remarkably just two of their players reached the quarterfinal stage and beyond -- Argentina's Alexis Mac Allister and new signing VÃctor Muñoz, Spain winger -- meaning most of the core players were back in some form of training in July. (Muñoz, who didn't play a single minute at the World Cup, officially arrived at his new club this Wednesday.)
Most importantly of all, none of these three clubs' players suffered serious injuries during the tournament.
Manchester United, Atlético Madrid, Aston Villa and Borussia Dortmund each have a major issue
Manchester United's exposure (2,533 minutes) to the World Cup was hardly mild, and they'll have to balance tending to those aches and pains with a significantly enhanced schedule now that they're back in the Champions League. We may now finally have reached the stage where star man Bruno Fernandes (31) will need to be managed more carefully.
Elsewhere, fully 21 Atlético Madrid players played 700-plus LaLiga minutes last season; nine of those players reached the World Cup final. Two weeks out from the club's league opener against Malaga, only one of those players (Giuliano Simeone) had returned to training -- and two of their minutes leaders, Argentina squad players Nahuel Molina and Thiago Almada, could yet leave the club this summer -- which means it's fair to say Los Colchoneros will begin with an under-strength XI.
Aston Villa suffered a hammer blow during the tournament when Belgium international Amadou Onana tore his ACL in the round-of-16 victory over the USA. Add that to the fact their star goalkeeper (Emi MartÃnez), center back (Ezri Konsa) and striker (Ollie Watkins) are still on holiday, plus their marquee signing Johan Manzambi is still recovering from an injury suffered during the finals, and they look extremely depleted heading into the UEFA Super Cup against Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
Speaking of injuries, Borussia Dortmund lost their best defender, Nico Schlotterbeck, to a knee problem during the World Cup. He's such a difference-maker on and off the ball that his absence puts them in a tough spot out of the gate.
Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have been hit hard ... but there might be a saving grace
Bayern had by far the biggest exposure to the World Cup of any club in Europe; their players totaled an astonishing 5,931 minutes at the finals, because they made up most of the Germany team, plus Michael Olise (France), Dayot Upamecano (France) and Harry Kane (England) went all the way to the third-place game. Meanwhile, PSG's players totaled 4,651 minutes, the third most of any club, and manager Luis Enrique is probably quietly relieved it was only that, as their Portuguese trio (Vitinha, Nuno Mendes, João Neves) badly underwhelmed and ducked out early. (PSG's figure is also inclusive of France and Aston Villa defender Lucas Digne, who is set to wrap a move to Paris before the transfer window closes.)
Both sides participated in the Club World Cup last summer, meaning it has been a very long 12 months for each. But it's worth remembering that their league campaigns are much less taxing than their Premier League and LaLiga counterparts; they play four fewer games over the season and have the luxury of being comfortably the best teams in their respective divisions, meaning some games are genuinely quite easy.
PSG proved last season they can win Ligue 1 fairly smoothly despite fully rotating their team and prioritizing the Champions League. They (and Bayern) might need to enact a similar strategy in 2026-27.
Youth might be no cure for Arsenal and Barcelona
On paper at least, you'd think Arsenal and Barcelona would be able to absorb the World Cup fatigue. Their squads skew young -- neither contains a key outfielder aged 30 or older -- they did not participate in last summer's Club World Cup, and they are used to the rigors of midweek European football. Unfortunately, there are three issues that threaten to outweigh all of that.
The first is that both squads played approximately 4,000 minutes at the World Cup, a chunky figure, and second is that many of their players went all the way to the end: Barcelona had eight players in the Spain squad alone, while Arsenal had four, plus four with England and one with France). Then there's the most concerning part: injuries.
Arsenal's William Saliba badly hurt his back in the semifinals and is out for months, Bukayo Saka played through injury all tournament, and there are serious concerns over Declan Rice's crippling workload. Meanwhile, Barca's Frenkie de Jong has a knee ligament injury and Raphinha -- who struggled with ailments throughout last season -- got hurt with Brazil in the group stage and wasn't seen again.
All of that is a huge cause for worry. and that's before we've even mentioned the state of permanent concern around Pedri's hamstrings, or the fact that Lamine Yamal recovered from injury during the tournament.
Manchester City and Real Madrid have been hit hard ... and there might be no escape
There should be plenty of alarm bells ringing at both Man City and Real Madrid heading into the season.
City players clocked just under 5,000 minutes at the World Cup; Madrid, just over 4,000. Plenty of them ventured deep into the tournament, and these squads skew a lot older than Arsenal's and Barça's -- City have two 30-plus-year-old outfielders and Madrid have three.
World Cup Golden Ball winner Rodri, who is at the center of a transfer tussle between these two clubs, played more than 700 minutes and then had to have a minor procedure on his back to clear up an issue. Whichever club he plays for come September, they'll have to take a cautious approach to his return.
Both of these clubs played in last summer's Club World Cup, both will play Champions League football next season, and crucially, they will not benefit from the less taxing league schedule that Bayern and PSG do in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1, respectively. In City's case, it may feel particularly grueling, as the Premier League shows no let-up in spending and they adapt to life without Pep Guardiola, who stepped down before the World Cup after nearly a decade of incredible success.
Taking into consideration all exertions and mitigating factors, it would not surprise if City and Madrid suffer the most out of all the top European clubs when it comes to World Cup burnout.
