The 2026 World Cup will be a homecoming for some players who have ties to Los Angeles.

Three of four LAFC players in the tournament will play for Canada in the month-long global soccer tournament. LA and Pico Rivera will be represented on Team USA. South Korea and New Zealand also have LA connections.

The expanded 48-team tournament kicks off June 11 with matches between Mexico and South Africa and South Korea taking on Czechia, starting Group A competition in Mexico City and Guadalajara, two of 16 North American cities that will host matches over the next month.

Here are some of the players with Los Angeles ties.

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Canada

Three LAFC players were selected for host Canada’s roster at the 2026 World Cup.

Midfielder Stephen Eustáquio, acquired on loan by LAFC from FC Porto in February, is one of four MLS midfielders on Team Canada’s roster. Born in Leamington, Ontario, Eustáquio will be making his second World Cup appearance. He has 54 caps with Canada and four goals in international play.

LAFC teammate Mathieu Choinière, of Saint-Alexandre, Québec, started his MLS career with CF Montréal in 2018, earning two MLS All-Star selections, before a move to Swiss Super League powerhouse Grasshopper in 2024. He returned to MLS with LAFC in 2025. Choinière has 23 caps with Canada, including appearances at the 2024-25 Concacaf Nations League and 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup.

Jacob Shaffelburg, acquired by LAFC ahead of the 2026 season, has recently returned to action from injury. The winger has 31 caps and six goals for Team Canada after making his international debut in January 2020. This will be Shaffelburg’s first World Cup.

Canada, which has exited in the group stage in its two previous World Cup appearances will be in Group B with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland.

Canada’s World Cup schedule
June 12: Canada v. Bosnia & Herzegovina in Toronto, Ontario
June 18: Canada v. Qatar in Vancouver, British Columbia
June 24: Canada v. Switzerland in Vancouver, British Columbia

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South Korea

Global superstar Son Heungmin was acquired by LAFC from Tottenham Hotspur in August 2025. He went on to score nine goals in his first 10 appearance. He leads MLS this season with nine assists.

At Tottenham, Son won the UEFA Europa League title and earned the 2019-2020 English Premiere League Golden Boot, scoring 23 goals to become the first Asian player to win the EPL award for most goals in a season.

Internationally, the 33-year-old Son is a soccer icon with an unmatched 144 caps for South Korea and 56 goals. He needs two goals at the World Cup, his fourth, to match Cha Bum-Kun as the country’s all-time leading goal scorer.

South Korea is making its 11th consecutive World Cup appearance and its 12th overall. Their best result came in 2002 when the co-host country placed fourth.

They will be in Group A and play on the first day of the competition against Czechia.

South Korea’s World Cup schedule
June 11: South Korea v. Czechia, Guadalajara, Mexico
June 18: South Korea v. Mexico, Guadalajara, Mexico
June 24: South Korea v. South Africa, Monterrey, Mexico

New Zealand

New Zealand nation Tyler Bindon was born in Auckland, but moved to Southern California at age 12 when his American mother became coach of the UCLA women’s soccer team. Bindon, a defender, developed his game at the LAFD academy and was selected for the United States Under-19 team.

Bindon’s club career includes stops at England’s Reading FC, Sheffield United and his current team, Nottingham Forest.

New Zealand will be in Group G.

New Zealand’s World Cup schedule
June 15: Iran v. New Zealand, Los Angeles
June 21: New Zealand v. Egypt, Vancouver
June 26: New Zealand v. Belgium, Vancouver

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United States

Los Angeles’ Haji Wright and Pico Rivera’s Cristian Roldan will represent the United States at the 2026 World Cup. The tournament will be a homecoming for Wright and Roldan, who will be playing two of three group stage games at the stadium in Inglewood.

Wright, 28, was born in Los Angeles, where he grew up admiring France national and Arsenal great Thierry Henry, but ranks Kobe Bryant as his all-time favorite athlete.

The forward made his international debut in June 2022 against Morocco and got right to work, becoming the 56th USMNT player to score in his first appearance. Wright scored from the penalty spot after he was handed the ball from 2026 World Cup roster-mate Christan Pulisic.

Wright played in all four matches at the 2022 World Cup and scored a memorable 76th-minute goal against the Netherlands in Qatar, flicking on a pass from Pulisic into the net. The United States lost the Round of 16 game, 3-1.

At the club level, Wright plays for English second-tier side Coventry City, where he has been scoring at a healthy clip. Wright has 18 goals and a pair of assist in 43 appearances. Wright made the move to England after a stint with Antalyaspor in Turkey, where he scored 14 goals in 32 matches, including eight goals in seven appearances during a six-week stretch.

Wright also played at FC Schalke 04 in Germany, VVV-Venlo in the Netherlands, and Sonderjyske in Denmark.

His first pro contract was with the New York Cosmos before signing for FC Schalke 04 at 18.

oldan, 30, will be playing in his second World Cup this summer. In addition to two games at SoFi Stadium, the midfielder will play a third group stage game at Lumen Field, home to his long-time MLS Club the Seattle Sounders.

Roldan has been with the Sounders since 2015, helping the team to a Concacaf Champions Cup in 2022, two MLS Cups and a Leagues Cup. Roldan earned his first-ever MLS Best XI selection in 2025.

The Sounders captain made his international debut in 2017. He has 45 caps and helped the United States win two Gold Cup titles.

Roldan played two seasons at the University of Washington.

In high school, Roldan led El Rancho High School to the Southern Section Division III title and a 29-2-1 record. As a senior, he had 54 goals and 31 assists.

Team USA is entering its 12 World Cup with a best-ever third-place finish at the inaugural tournament in 1930. The team failed to qualify from 1950 to 1990, then returned to the world’s biggest soccer stage as a host in 1994. The USA has been part of every World Cup since. In the modern era, the team’s best result was a quarterfinal appearance 2002.

The U.S. is in Group D.

The United States’ World Cup schedule
June 12: USA v. Paraguay, Los Angeles
June 19: USA v. Australia, Seattle
June 25: Türkiye v. USA, Los Angeles

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About the 2026 World Cup

The World Cup begins on June 11, 2026 with Mexico playing the opener in Mexico City and co-hosts USA and Canada hosting their openers in Los Angeles and Toronto a day later.

The group stage lasts until June 27, then the top two teams in each group along with the eight best third-place finishers will advance to the Round of 32 beginning on June 28.

The remaining winning teams will then play in the Round of 16 starting on July 4. The quarterfinals will be held on July 9, and the semifinals will be July 14 and July 15, leading up to the championship match at MetLife Stadium on July 19.

Venues and kick-off times for all 104 matches in the 48-team field were announced in December before the revealing of which teams will be in the tournament’s unprecedented 12 groups of four.

SoFi Stadium in Inglewood is one of the venues that will host the international soccer tournament. The sparkling spaceship-like structure opened in 2020 on the site of the Hollywood Park Racetrack. The stadium has a seating capacity of about 70,000, an artificial surface and a fixed roof.

There are five group stage matches at the stadium in Inglewood and three knockout phase games

June 12: USA v. Paraguay
June 15: Iran v. New Zealand
June 18: Switzerland v. Bosnia and Herzegovina
June 21: Belgium v. Iran
June 25: USA v. Türkiye
June 28: Round of 32 match
July 2: Round of 32 match
July 10: Quarterfinal

Other U.S. host cities are Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Seattle and the Bay Area.

Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey are Mexico’s host cities. Toronto and Vancouver will host matches in Canada.