WC Countdown: Why always them? For 44 years, no WC final has been complete without Inter & Bayern players

Since the 1982 FIFA World Cup, there have been six different winners, as Italy, Brazil, Argentina, and Germany (in 1990 under the name West Germany) have all triumphed twice, while Spain emerged victorious once.

However, in the last 44 years, there was one pretty unbelievable constant in the World Cup finals - every single one has featured at least one Inter Milan player and at least one Bayern Munich player!

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Given that the Nerazzurri and the Bavarians have long formed the backbone of the Italian and German national teams, this peculiarity has been helped by the fact that neither the Azzurri nor Die Mannschaft have participated in World Cup finals only four times: in 1998 (France-Brazil), in 2010 (Spain-The Netherlands), in 2018 (France-Croatia), and in 2022 (Argentina-France).

Still, Inter and Bayern had their representatives, despite their countries' failures to reach the trophy match.

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Now, in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, the Bundesliga champions will be represented by a staggering 17 players across 10 national teams: Manuel Neuer, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Joshua Kimmich, Jonathan Tah, Jamal Musiala, Leon Goretzka (Germany), Konrad Laimer (Austria), Alphonso Davies (Canada), Josip Stanisic (Austria), Harry Kane (England), Michael Olise, Dayot Upamecano (France), Luis Diaz (Colombia), Nicolas Jackson, Bara Sapoko Ndiaye (Senegal), Hiroki Ito (Japan), and Kim Min-jae (South Korea).

On the other hand, mainly thanks to Italy's failure to qualify, Inter's contingent at the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be significantly smaller, as "only" six of their players will feature: Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkey), Petar Sucic (Croatia), Manuel Akanji (Switzerland), Ange-Yoan Bonny (Ivory Coast), Marcus Thuram (France), and Lautaro Martinez (Argentina).

Therefore, the odds of the long-standing 44-year tradition being prolonged for at least four more years appear to be very strong. Which of these 14 national teams will make it to the World Cup final?

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INTER MILAN AND BAYERN MUNICH PLAYERS IN WORLD CUP FINALS SINCE 1982:

1982 Italy-West Germany: Giuseppe Bergomi, Gabriele Oriali, Alessandro Altobelli (Inter) - Wolfgang Dremmler, Paul Breitner, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Bayern)

1986 Argentina-West Germany: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (Inter) - Lothar Matthaus, Dieter Hoeness (Bayern)

1990 West Germany-Argentina: Andreas Brehme, Lothar Matthaus, Jurgen Klinsmann (Inter) - Klaus Augenthaler, Jurgen Kohler, Stefan Reuter (Bayern)

1994 Brazil-Italy: Nicola Berti (Inter) - Jorginho (Bayern)

1998 Brazil-France: Ronaldo Nazario (Inter) - Bixente Lizarazu (Bayern)

2002 Germany-Brazil: Ronaldo Nazario (Inter) - Oliver Kahn, Thomas Linke, Jens Jeremies (Bayern)

2006 Italy-France: Marco Materazzi (Inter) - Luca Toni, Willy Sagnol (Bayern)

2010 The Netherlands-Spain: Wesley Sneijder (Inter) - Mark van Bommel, Arjen Robben (Bayern)

2014 Germany-Argentina: Rodrigo Palacio (Inter) - Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm, Jerome Boateng, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Mario Gotze (Bayern)

2018 France-Croatia: Marcelo Brozovic, Ivan Perisic (Inter) - Corentin Tolisso (Bayern)

2022 Argentina-France: Lautaro Martinez (Inter) - Dayot Upamecano, Kingsley Coman (Bayern)