Ex Players at the World Cup

[davieG]

Youri Tielemans

Tielemans' time at the King Power Stadium will always be remembered for his wonderstrike in the FA Cup final four years ago. He left City in the summer of 2023 following their relegation from the Premier League and joined Aston Villa.

He featured 195 times for City, scoring 28 and assisting 26. The majority of his goals will be remembered for his long-range strikes - think Wolves and Everton in 2022.
On the back of lifting the Europa League with Unai Emery's team, the midfielder is expected to be key in Belgium's World Cup campaign. Tielemans has been a mainstay in the Belgium national team since making his debut 10 years ago and he recently scored in their World Cup warm-up win over Croatia.

 

Harry Kane

The clinical goalscorer has become one of the best strikers of his generation since his loan move at Leicester. Kane scored twice in 15 appearances under Nigel Pearson in the season the Foxes lost to Watford in the play-off semi-final.
Since then, he has bagged 78 in 112 caps for England and will play a vital role in the Three Lions' hopes of ending their wait for success in a major tournament.

Thomas Tuchel's men have been placed in Group L alongside Croatia, Fatawu's Ghana and Panama.

 

Timothy Castagne

Another Belgian player formerly of City is Timothy Castagne. The attacking wing-back enjoyed three seasons in LE2 before being one of many players to be sold after relegation.
He moved to Fulham and has been an ever-present under Marco Silva. The Portuguese's move to Benfica means Castagne will work under a new manager at Craven Cottage next season. But before that, he will work under Rudi Garcia alongside Tielemans.

 

N'Golo Kante

The man that nobody can hate. It's remarkable that Kante is still playing at the top level with France, but 10 years after winning the Premier League with Leicester, the midfielder is still 'everywhere' for his nation.

Since the summer of 2022, Kante has been in and out of the Les Bleus set-up, missing the 2022 World Cup due to injury. Didier Deschamps excluded him from four straight camps before recalling him in November, March and this summer.
France are one of the favourites to win the trophy and Kante is expected to start their World Cup opener against Senegal on June 16.

 

Caglar Soyuncu

A pattern is developing here. Soyuncu left City in 2023, after being frozen out by Brendan Rodgers, with his contract expiring. The Turkish centre-back joined Atletico Madrid that summer before moving to Fenerbahce in January 2024 on loan.

Soyuncu went on to sign a three-year deal with the Turkish giants that summer, with Atletico receiving around €8million (£6.9m) after signing him for nothing. He started the last warm-up game against North Macadonia.

 

Yunus Akgun

Joining him is Yunus Akgun. There are a number of players that have put on the royal blue strip of Leicester in the past and left the club with the feeling of one that got away - Ademola Lookman and Jordan James for example.

Akgun spent the 2023/24 season at City, scoring twice and assisting four to help them win the Championship title. He returned to Galatasaray and produced some decent numbers in the league and Europe (26 goal contributions in 24/25 and 22 last term).

Bilal El Khannouss

Technically, El Khannouss is still at Leicester City player. But he joined Stuttgart on loan last summer and has now joined them permanently, although it's understood the deal won't officially go through until July 1 - despite the Bundesliga side announcing it.
The playmaker, 22, has already represented his country 35 times and his creativity will be vital if they are to replicate their fourth-place finish from four years ago. In Group C, they meet Brazil, Scotland and Haiti.

 

Andrej Kramaric

Kramaric arrived at the King Power Stadium in January 2015 already a Croatia international. His move to the Premier League didn't work out and he returned to Hoffenheim, where he remains today.

Como's Martin Baturina, Inter's Petar Sucic, Real Sociedad's Luka Sucic and Torino's Nikola Vlasic are all among the attacking options for Zlatko Dalic, but Kramaric is part of their squad in what is likely to be his final tournament at the age of 34.

Riyad Mahrez

Another player who is set to play his final tournament is Riyad Mahrez, 35. The winger is playing in his second World Cup for Algeria and has already confirmed that this summer's edition will be his last.

With 113 caps and 38 goals, Mahrez remains a crucial part of the African's team. Les Fenneces - which translates to The Fennec Foxes - beat the Netherlands in Rotterdam earlier this week and they will be no rollovers.
Mahrez is joined by Man City's Rayan Ait-Nouri, Al-Ittihad's Houssem Aouar, Wolfsburg's Mohamed Amoura, Bayer Leverkusen's Ibrahim Maza and Feyenoord's Anis Hadj Moussa. They face Argentina, Jordan and Austria in 

 

Chris Wood

Wood is still New Zealand's talisman, just as he was when he played for Leicester between 2013 and 2015. The striker, now at Nottingham Forest, has 45 international goals in 89 caps - including an impressive nine in their Oceania qualifying campaign.
The All Whites are ranked 85th in the FIFA World Rankings and recently got battered 4-0 by Haiti. They face England on Saturday in their final warm-up game before facing Iran, Egypt and Belgium.

[Tuna]

Some decent players there.