Jordan Pickford was awarded his own parking space at his local Lidl after his World Cup exploits in 2018. Now, as the 2026 men's World Cup kicks off across the US, Mexico and Canada, the Sunderland-born goalkeeper is among dozens of home nations stars whose roots are being traced by a new BBC interactive postcode lookup.
The tool includes present day superstars and past greats from all four home nations since 1950, revealing how many have come from each local area. Manchester's Nico O'Reilly has the city's 0161 dialling code tattooed on his arm. Scotland captain Andy Robertson once worked on the tills at Marks & Spencer on Sauchiehall Street, while teammate Lawrence Shankland was employed in a Hillington plumbing factory before turning professional.
“BBC's postcode lookup reveals World Cup stars' local roots, from Pickford's Lidl parking space to O'Reilly's 0161 tattoo.”
England's squad has a strong London feel: a record 10 players come from the capital, surpassing the Golden Generation of the 2000s – a crop led by Londoners like David Beckham, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard. The North West, which has supplied more England World Cup players than any other region, has seven representatives in Thomas Tuchel's squad. Goalkeepers Dean Henderson and James Trafford hail from Cumbria: Henderson spent years making a two-and-a-half hour round trip with his father from Whitehaven to Carlisle United's academy, while Trafford was raised on his family's farm near Cockermouth.
There is also a cluster of four players from the North East in the squad, including Sunderland's Jordan Henderson, selected for a joint England-record fourth World Cup. The smallest of England's nine regions in terms of population, the North East punches above its weight, providing more players per million residents than any other part of the country.
In Scotland, Glasgow's football culture has shaped generations. The city produced stars such as Robertson and John McGinn, and gave opportunities to Nathan Patterson, scouted playing for Rossvale in north Glasgow, and Aaron Hickey, who became the youngest player to start a Scottish Cup final in 2019. Since 1950, Glasgow has produced more World Cup players than any other UK council area, topping a list dominated by Belfast, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Manchester.
Yet World Cup stories can emerge from unlikely places too. Scott McKenna is the first player from Kirriemuir – a small Angus town of around 6,000 people – to reach football's biggest stage.