Although the Hungarian national team did not qualify for the World Cup, three soccer players based in Hungary will still be participating in the tournament. Nadhir Benbouali, Lenny Joseph, and Laros Duarte have all been selected for their respective national teams’ World Cup squads.
Author: Tamás Szikora
Algerian Nadhir Benbouali heads to the World Cup as a recent Hungarian champion
Benbouali turned 26 in April and has played in Belgium and Hungary in addition to his home country. The 2021–2022 season was one of the most productive of his professional career in terms of goals scored, even when he was playing for Paradou in the Algerian top flight. From there, he signed with Charleroi for the following season, where he also played for the B team for a while. He was then loaned from the Belgian club to Hungary, where he was given a chance at Győri ETO, which had been promoted to the Hungarian top flight in 2024. Since then, he has more than repaid that trust: he scored eight goals in his first season in Hungary and quickly became a key player for ETO.
It came as no surprise that the Hungarian team, which had made great strides in the meantime, signed him. After a difficult start in the autumn of 2024, Győr finished near the top of the league, and in spring of 2026 they won the league title. Benbouali played a significant role in this success: she scored 15 goals in NB I, as well as two goals each in the cup and the Conference League qualifiers. His performance clearly caught the attention of the Algerian national team, and he earned a spot on the roster. He played in all three of the most recent friendly matches and scored a goal immediately in his first appearance, against Guatemala. That match ended in a 7-0 victory for Algeria, followed by a scoreless draw against Uruguay, and then, to everyone’s surprise, a 1-0 win over the Netherlands.
Algeria can thus look back on a particularly impressive warm-up period. They have been drawn into Group J for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where they are sure to face defending champions and world No. 1 Argentina, as well as Austria (24th) and Jordan (63rd). The Algerian national team is currently ranked 28th, and so far has every reason to be proud of itself. They last qualified for the World Cup in 2014, when they achieved their best result by reaching the round of 16, and this time they qualified as group winners in the African qualifiers. Moreover, they did not disappoint at the most recent Africa Cup of Nations, where they reached the quarterfinals.
Lenny Joseph has already proven himself at Fradi; now he’s preparing for the World Cup with Haiti
For Lenny Joseph, born in 2000, being called up to Haiti’s World Cup squad must be a source of immense pride. Especially considering that Joseph donned his country’s national team jersey for the first time this year. Joseph was actually born in Paris; he holds dual Haitian-French citizenship and was raised in the PSG academy as a youth. From there, he continued his career in the youth teams of AS Montferrand and Le Puy. As a professional, he played for the first team of the latter club, as well as Boulogne’s B team, and later for Metz and Grenoble. He scored a total of four goals for Metz over two years, then added eight goals to Grenoble’s tally between 2023 and 2025.
From there, he signed with Ferencváros, where he has already scored 22 goals since his arrival. Two of those came in the Europa League, and another two in the Champions League qualifiers. He has become a true pillar of the FTC; in the season just concluded, he appeared in 12 Europa League matches, 25 NB I matches, and five Hungarian Cup matches. He had a successful season with his club; after all, in addition to helping the team finish second in the league, he contributed five goals to the cup victory and played a significant role in Fradi’s advancement to the Europa League round of 16. This earned him a spot on the Haitian national team, where he was given two opportunities in the summer friendlies and scored a goal against New Zealand after just six minutes on the field.
Haiti has only appeared in the World Cup once before, in 1974, where it was eliminated in the group stage, and has never come close to qualifying since. The current tournament and the period leading up to it are an exception, as the team advanced directly from the CONCACAF qualifiers, finishing ahead of the national teams of Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. However, there is a rather interesting story behind this. National team coach Sebastien Migne and his staff assembled the squad with the intention of seeking out Haitian-born players based in Europe or North America who possess the necessary experience. They did all this through matches abroad, and due to the country’s unstable situation, Migne hasn’t even set foot on Haitian soil. They are currently ranked 83rd in the FIFA World Rankings and have been placed in Group C for the World Cup. There they will face five-time world champions Brazil (6th), Morocco (7th)—which won the ANK Trophy and finished fourth in the last World Cup—and Scotland (42nd).
Laros Duarte Makes History with Cape Verde
The 29-year-old midfielder was born in Rotterdam and holds dual Dutch-Cape Verdean citizenship. He grew up in the Netherlands, playing for the youth teams of PSV Eindhoven and Sparta Rotterdam, as well as Sparta’s senior squad. From there, his path led him to Groningen, where he scored 9 goals between 2021 and 2024 before moving to Hungary. He was signed by Puskás Akadémia, where he has scored only one goal and played in 59 matches.
He has now been given the opportunity to play for the national team, although he previously played for the Dutch youth national teams. He has already played for the Dutch U16 national team, but most frequently appeared for the U19 team, making a total of 14 appearances. At the World Cup, however, we will see him in the Cape Verde national team jersey. He has played in 18 matches for the national team so far, and this year he scored his first goal in a friendly against Serbia, which they won 3-0, and in addition to his goal, he also provided an assist. In this regard, he was also productive at the Puskás Academy, as he provided six assists in the most recent NB I season.
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However, Duarte cannot expect an easy match at the World Cup. In Group H, they will face two-time world champions Uruguay (16th), one-time champions Spain (2nd), and Saudi Arabia (61st). By qualifying for the tournament, they are making history, as the Cape Verde Islands have never before appeared in a World Cup. During the African World Cup qualifiers, however, they advanced this time as group winners, which was a significant step forward after previously failing to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations. The squad includes quite a few players who play for European clubs, and they are likely to be dangerous on free kicks during the group stage. As the BBC pointed out, nearly 40 percent of their goals scored during the World Cup qualifiers came from free kicks.
The group stage matches of the countries mentioned (Central European Time)
Group C
June 14, 2026, 3:00 a.m. – Haiti vs. Scotland
June 20, 2026, 2:30 a.m. – Haiti vs. Brazil
June 25, 2026, 12:00 a.m. – Haiti vs. Morocco
Group J
June 17, 2026, 3:00 a.m. – Algeria vs. Argentina
June 23, 2026, 5:00 a.m. – Algeria – Jordan
June 28, 2026, 4:00 a.m. – Algeria – Austria
Group H
June 15, 2026, 6:00 p.m. – Cape Verde – Spain
June 22, 2026, 12:00 a.m. – Cape Verde – Uruguay
June 27, 2026, 2:00 a.m. – Cape Verde – Saudi Arabia
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