DOHA, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- We don't know yet which country will win the World Cup, but when the final is celebrated on December 18, there is a good chance that one English city will be well-represented: Manchester.
At the start of the tournament, Manchester United had 14 players with different countries at the World Cup, while neighbors and bitter rivals Manchester City had 15.
So far, only two United players - Christian Eriksen (Denmark) and Facundo Pellestri (Uruguay) - have fallen by the wayside, while four members of the Manchester City squad - Aymeric Laporte, Rodri (both Spain), Kevin de Bruyne (Belgium) and Manuel Akanji (Switzerland) - have said goodbye to Qatar.
That means 12 players who call Old Trafford their home are still at the World Cup: Antony, Fred and Casemiro with Brazil, Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire with England, and Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot and Cristiano Ronaldo with Portugal.
Although Ronaldo has since left the club, he was still officially a Manchester United player when the tournament kicked off.
Meanwhile, Raphael Varane is with France and Tyrell Malacia with the Netherlands.
Despite all their foreign stars, Manchester City is making a great contribution to the England squad, with Kyle Walker, John Stones, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Kalvin Phillips all with Gareth Southgate's men.
Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo are with Portugal, while Julian Alvarez is doing well for Argentina, Ederson is with Brazil and Nathan Ake is a fixture in the Netherlands' defense.
All of which says a lot about the power of Manchester as a footballing city, but with the Premier League due to kick off again after the World Cup finals, on December 27 for Manchester United and Manchester City facing Leeds United a day later, coaches Erik ten Hag and Pep Guardiola will be wondering what condition their key players will be in when domestic football gets back underway. ■
