Arsenal’s pre-season: What happens to their World Cup players? When is the first game?
The World Cup has come to an end, so the focus for fans immediately switches back to transfers and domestic football.
Arsenal are gearing up for their first season as Premier League champions for more than 20 years, but preparations will look slightly different in the wake of a major international tournament.
This is our chance to look at what to expect from the players who represented their countries over the past six weeks in the United States, Mexico and Canada, as well as those who got some rest ahead of a new season. Here is what the north London club have planned between now and their opening league game on August 21.
How many Arsenal players were at the World Cup?
Arsenal had 15 players involved in the World Cup.
These were Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi and David Raya for eventual champions Spain, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke as their England representatives, while Gabriel and Gabriel Martinelli were also together for Brazil. The six players who were the sole Arsenal players for their nations were Martin Odegaard (Norway), Kai Havertz (Germany), Viktor Gyokeres (Sweden), Piero Hincapie (Ecuador), William Saliba (France) and Leandro Trossard (Belgium), who has since joined Besiktas for €20million (£17.1m, $22.9m).
Outside the trio of Spanish champions, the English quartet also made it to the final weekend of the tournament, winning the third-place play-off against France on Saturday, July 18. Saliba was injured and missed that match. Odegaard and Trossard reached the quarter-finals, Martinelli and Gabriel exited in the last 16, and Havertz, Gyokeres and Hincapie went out at the round of 32.
Mikel Merino was among three Arsenal players who won the World Cup with Spain (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Did any pick up injuries?
Saliba did not play in France’s 6-4 defeat against England due to a back injury that flared up in their semi-final defeat to Spain. The 25-year-old admitted he had been “gritting his teeth” through minor niggles for months, but without much rest, he reached breaking point, stopping the match of his own accord to be replaced. The extent of the injury and how long he will be sidelined are not yet known more than a week later.
Rice (hamstring) and Saka (Achilles) were Arsenal’s other fitness concerns heading into the tournament. Both needed managing by England coach Thomas Tuchel, missing some training sessions and matches, but were able to feature and score in that last game against France.
Saliba left the pitch due to a back issue in the semi-final (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
When will World Cup players return to pre-season training?
All players who have been involved in the World Cup receive a mandatory three weeks off after the end of their country’s involvement before they need to report for pre-season training. How they are integrated back into sessions and the warm-up matches will then be down to manager Mikel Arteta and his staff.
That three-week period comes to an end for those who were eliminated at the round of 32 (played between June 29 and July 3) this week. Brazil’s round-of-16 exit to Norway was on July 5, so Gabriel and Martinelli could report before Arsenal’s first official pre-season match away to Spanish side Girona on August 1. Odegaard should be expected back just after that trip, since the Norwegians were eliminated by England in the last eight on July 11.
Arsenal’s third and penultimate friendly, at home to Borussia Dortmund on August 9, is three weeks after the World Cup’s final weekend, so the eight players who made it that far can return after that fixture.
Following the 2024 European Championship, when England reached the final, Rice and Saka returned for Arsenal in the final pre-season friendly before starting in their opening Premier League fixture a week later. Whether Arteta decides to do the same with them this time, given the amount of football they have played in the past few years, will be a point of interest.
What about the rest of the squad?
For those not at the World Cup, Arsenal’s pre-season officially began this Monday, July 20.
Some players were involved in a training camp in Marbella, Spain, the previous week, which has become customary at Arsenal in recent years for players to start building their fitness early.
The players who did start their pre-season on Monday include Riccardo Calafiori, Cristhian Mosquera, Gabriel Jesus, Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Illan Meslier, Christian Norgaard, Max Dowman, Marli Salmon, Reiss Nelson and Fabio Vieira.
Max Dowman in training on Monday (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
White’s 2025-26 season ended in early May with a medial cruciate ligament knee injury; he told Arsenal’s social channels: “I’ve been training every day. Knee’s all good. Started training with the team last week.”
Timber, who missed out on a World Cup squad place with the Netherlands after being absent for almost all of the club campaign’s final two months because of an ankle issue, said: “Getting there slowly. (I was) rehabbing during the summer, hopefully back soon.”
When are the first pre-season friendlies? Is there a tour?
The World Cup ending on July 19 has left little room for a pre-season tour. The number of Arsenal players at the tournament not only makes travel across the world less worthwhile, but has also contributed to a truncated pre-season.
So, in a somewhat old-school manner, Arsenal will be playing two warm-up matches elsewhere in Europe as well as their usual two at their Emirates Stadium. They are as follows (kick-offs are UK time):
- Girona (away). Saturday, August 1 (7pm)
- Real Betis (neutral — Aviva Stadium, Dublin). Wednesday, August 5 (7.30pm)
- Borussia Dortmund (home). Sunday, August 9 (2pm)
- Como (home). Wednesday, August 12 (7.30pm)
The Premier League champions then face FA Cup winners Manchester City in the Community Shield on Sunday, August 16 (3pm). It will be played at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff rather than at Wembley this season because of concerts at England’s national stadium.
For the third time in six seasons, Arsenal will then play the Premier League’s first game of the season on a Friday night (August 21, 8pm). They are hosting 2025-26 Championship winners Coventry City, having previously travelled to Brentford in 2021 (a 2-0 loss) and Crystal Palace in 2022 (a 2-0 win).