Best XI of North Carolina-based World Cup Teams

By Billy McGee - @iambillymcgee

With the World Cup coming to the United States this summer, three competing nations have opted to have their base camps in North Carolina. Scotland, hosted by Charlotte FC, Germany training at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, and Norway make UNC Greensboro their home for the tournament.

With the three national teams come some of the best players in the world. Here’s a look at the best XI of the teams that will be calling North Carolina home this summer:

Goalkeeper: Manuel Neuer

Despite an underwhelming season so far by his standards, Neuer earns the nod as the best goalkeeper due to a lack of other top options. The 39-year-old German keeper is one of the most decorated goalkeepers in the sport’s history, having won a pair of Champions League titles (2012, 2020) with Bayern Munich, 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles from the 2012/13 season through the 2022/23 season as well as the 2014 World Cup, and was named the Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper in 2020.

Center back: Antonio Rüdiger

The first of a back three, Rüdiger has been one of the best center halves of the 2020s, winning the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021 and Real Madrid in 2024. Alongside the Champions League win in 2024, he also won La Liga and was named to the FIFA Best XI. The 33-year-old German defender has been limited during the 2025/26 season with a pair of injuries that have kept him out for the majority of the season up to this point, but he is back in the lineup now.

Center back: Jonathan Tah

Tah is the second center back in the team. The 30-year-old has made a name for himself in the Bundesliga over the past decade, making 275 starts across 10 years for Bayer Leverkusen, including being a part of their historic unbeaten season in 2023/24 that saw them lift their first ever Bundesliga title, before making the move to Bayern Munich this season where he is favored to become a two time league champion.

Center back: Nico Schlotterbeck

Rounding out an all-German defense is Borussia Dortmund center back, Nico Schlotterbeck. The 26-year-old has proven himself to be a high-level center back, making the Bundesliga Team of the Season in 2021/22, 2022/23, and 2024/25 and helping his club to reach the Champions League Final in 2024. He has also shown a knack for getting involved in goals as a central defender, having notched five or more Bundesliga goal contributions in three of the last five seasons.

Defensive midfielder: Joshua Kimmich

Continuing the theme of German players in the squad, Joshua Kimmich slots in as half of a double pivot. The 31-year-old is the captain of the German National Team and can play as a defensive midfielder or as a right back. Since joining Bayern Munich at 20 years old in the 2015/16 season, Kimmich has been a part of nine Bundesliga-winning sides as well as a Champions League-winning side in 2020. Along with winning the Champions League title, he was named to the UEFA Team of the Season and the FIFA Best XI. In the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, he scored a pair of goals and assisted another in five appearances.

Defensive midfielder: Scott McTominay

The first non-German on the team is Scottish midfielder Scott McTominay. McTominay made his first-team debut with Manchester United in 2017 and played for them until 2024 before making the move to Italy to join Napoli. In his first season with Napoli, he helped lead them to a Serie A championship and was named the Serie A Footballer of the Year with 12 goals and four assists. McTominay kicked off the scoring in Scotland’s 4-2 win over Denmark that earned them their first World Cup appearance since 1998.

Right midfielder: Martin Ødegaard

The first Norwegian in the squad is midfielder Martin Ødegaard. The 27-year-old is one of the best chance creators in Europe. He has been in the spotlight since he was a teenager, becoming the youngest player to play for Norway’s senior national team at 15 years and 253 days and joining Real Madrid at 16 years old. Ødegaard played for their second team and went on a series of loans before joining Arsenal on a permanent deal in 2021. Ødegaard has served as Arsenal's captain for much of his time with the club, including a 15-goal, 7-assist campaign in the 2022/23 season. In Norway’s 2026 World Cup Qualifying, he tallied seven assists across five games, helping them qualify for the first time since 1998.

Attacking midfielder: Jamal Musiala

In the middle of the attack is one of the best attacking midfielders in the world. The 23-year-old has contributed 47 league goals and 25 league assists in 145 appearances for Bayern Munich since breaking through into the first team at age 17 in the 2020/21 season. Musiala has been limited to just nine appearances across all competitions for Bayern Munich this season after suffering a gruesome leg fracture and ankle dislocation in the 2025 Club World Cup. He is yet to make a start since returning from injury, but is set to make his national team return for Germany in the March international break.

Left midfielder: Florian Wirtz

Wirtz is Musiala’s running mate as a creative force in the German attack. The 22-year-old made his first team debut with Bayer Leverkusen in the 2019/20 season and became the youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history at 17 years and 34 days, a record that has since been broken. He broke through with 17 Bundesliga goal contributions in his age 18 season and strung together a pair of double-digit goal and double-digit assist seasons before a big-money move to join Liverpool last summer. Wirtz has notched eight goals and eight assists in 37 appearances for the German National Team.

Striker: Alexander Sørloth

The first of a striker duo is Norway’s Alexander Sørloth. He currently plays for Atlético Madrid, where he has scored nine La Liga goals. Sørloth has reached 20 league goals in each of his last two seasons for Villarreal in 2023/24 and Atléti in 2024/25. Playing for the Norwegian National Team, he has notched 27 goals in 68 appearances, including a brace against Estonia in the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers.

Striker: Erling Haaland

The most prolific goalscorer in the world, Erling Haaland, has amassed a legendary resume at just 25 years old. Haaland joined Manchester City for the 2022/23 season after a successful three-year stint with Borussia Dortmund, where he scored 62 Bundesliga goals in 67 appearances. In his first season with Man City, he broke the Premier League goal record with 36 goals, helped them win a treble, winning the Premier League, FA Cup, and Manchester City’s first Champions League title. He has tallied 200 league goals in his career across 246 matches for four different clubs. At the international level, he has 55 goals in 48 appearances, including 16 goals in eight World Cup Qualifying matches to help Norway reach the game’s biggest stage for the first time in 28 years.