The Refugee Stars at the World Cup 2026: How War, Displacement and Refuge Found Their Way to the World Cup

When Antonio Rüdiger entered the fray as a substitute during Germany’s World Cup opener — a 7-1 victory over Curaçao in Houston — he knew his large extended family would be watching on proudly.

But things could have been very different. If his parents had not managed to flee Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war for a new life in Europe, the Real Madrid defender’s story would look nothing like the one he has lived.

“There was only the decision to get out of there,” Rüdiger told BBC Sport Africa.

In a tournament that has already been defined by the stories of diaspora players and the ways in which migration and colonial ties have shaped squads, the refugee experiences of some of the 2026 World Cup’s biggest stars carry a particularly profound resonance — especially as the host nation simultaneously grapples with its own deeply contested approach to refugee admissions.

Rüdiger: Hidden in a Bag of Rice

The journey that brought Rüdiger’s family from Sierra Leone to Germany was one of extraordinary danger.

“I spoke many times with my brother about it, and he told me the stories of what he saw there and what a march they made from Kono [the family’s home district in the far east of Sierra Leone] to the capital city to find a bit of safety,” Rüdiger said.

The distance between Kono and Freetown is approximately 210 miles (340 kilometres). The journey was perilous. Rüdiger’s uncle took extreme action to prevent his nieces and nephews being conscripted as child soldiers — one of the defining horrors of the conflict.

“[He] hid them in a bag of rice and then went back to get them and then to continue the journey,” Rüdiger recalled. “And sometimes they had to lay low, pretending they were dead to not get shot or to not get abducted.”

Rüdiger — the youngest of six siblings — was born in Berlin after his family were accepted by Germany as refugees. Other relatives settled in the UK and the United States.

Growing up in a refugee centre shaped his worldview in ways he has never forgotten.

“We had our room, then a family next to us had their room, so we were all together,” he said. “It influenced me a lot because nothing is given in life. You have to work for things, you have to sacrifice a lot to get where you sometimes get your goal.”

The two-time Champions League winner believes the 2026 World Cup represents the right moment to speak out. “Now is the right time to raise a voice,” he said, “in support of refugees.”

Alphonso Davies: From a Ghanaian Refugee Camp to World Cup Captain

Alphonso Davies — captain of co-hosts Canada — has one of the most remarkable origin stories in world football.

Davies spent his early years in a Ghanaian refugee camp after his parents fled Liberia, which like Sierra Leone was devastated by civil war during the 1990s and early 2000s. He eventually arrived in Canada as a child, and the country that welcomed him has since watched him become one of the best left-backs in the world at Bayern Munich.

“Canada means a lot to me,” the full-back said to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), which has assembled a symbolic “game-changing team” of refugee players to demonstrate “what is possible when young people displaced by war and persecution find safety, opportunity and welcome.”

Davies described what Canada gave him in simple, direct terms: “Going to school for the first time, being able to play the sport that I love and being able to make friends. They welcomed us in with open arms. They gave me the opportunity to be who I am and to be what I want to be in life.”

Now, at a World Cup hosted on the soil of one of those three nations, Davies leads his adopted country from the front.

The UNHCR’s Game-Changing Team

The UNHCR has brought together a group of current and former players with refugee backgrounds for a campaign centred on 2026. Among those lending their names:

Australia’s professional footballers’ association is so proud of the squad’s multicultural makeup that it created a video in which every player listed their place of birth or family heritage — a deliberate showcase of what immigration produces.

Irankunda: The Youngest Socceroo Scorer at a World Cup

Nestory Irankunda is perhaps the most vivid of Australia’s refugee success stories at this tournament.

Born in a refugee camp, he arrived in Australia at three months old and grew up in Adelaide before his talent took him first to Bayern Munich and then to Watford in the Championship. His goal in Australia’s 2-0 win over Türkiye made him the youngest goalscorer in Australian World Cup history at 20 years old — a record that had previously stood for over a decade.

His journey from refugee camp to World Cup goalscorer in the space of two decades is the kind of story that the UNHCR campaign was built to tell.

The Bigger Picture: A Profound Contradiction

The stories of Rüdiger, Davies, Irankunda, and their teammates are being celebrated this summer on the soil of a country whose own relationship with refugees has shifted dramatically.

In January 2025, immediately after his inauguration, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending the US Refugee Admissions Programme (USRAP) — which, since its launch in 1980, had led to approximately 3.7 million refugees being admitted into the country, including 504,000 Africans.

By October, the Trump administration had limited refugee admissions to 7,500 for the current US fiscal year, with priority given to white South Africans following Trump’s widely criticised claims of a genocide against Afrikaners.

The contrast with previous years is stark:

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, president and chief executive of Global Refuge — a non-profit that has previously worked with the State Department to resettle refugees — described the contradiction bluntly.

“Sadly, right now, the most vulnerable in Africa and across the world have been shut out entirely,” she told BBC Sport Africa. “What we will see [at the World Cup] is the US spending this summer celebrating, as they should, what humans can achieve when they’re given a chance. US policymakers have spent the past year making sure fewer people get that chance, and it is a stark and deeply troubling contradiction.”

The United States hosted its first World Cup in 1994 — a year in which more than 100,000 refugees were resettled in the country.

“We knew back then that hosting the world and welcoming the world were not separate ideas,” O’Mara Vignarajah said. “But we seem to have forgotten that.”

Canada: A Different Direction

Co-host Canada presents a contrasting picture. While policymakers in recent years have moved toward somewhat more restrictive immigration policies, the annual number of refugees accepted has increased substantially over the past decade.

Thirty-eight African nations were represented in Canada’s most recent figures. Nigeria saw the highest number of refugee claims accepted. The country that welcomed Alphonso Davies continues to welcome others like him — and the results are visible on the pitch as well as in broader society.

Rüdiger on the Changing Narrative

Rüdiger is direct about what he sees as a deterioration in how refugees are perceived globally — and about the responsibility that comes with his platform.

“The narrative goes a bit more blaming the refugees,” he said. “Obviously, you have always the good and the bad. This is life, we all are not perfect. But the thing is, if one person does bad, are all bad?“

“You cannot smear it on everyone, because that’s not fair. Because you have people who come here, they really want to change their life, they’re doing good, they’re trying to learn. They learn the language, they go to school, they achieve something in life.”

His argument is illustrated by the players around him at this World Cup. Rüdiger himself is a Champions League winner. Davies is one of the best left-backs on the planet. Irankunda has just become the youngest Socceroo to score at a World Cup. Camavinga is a multiple European champion. Moses played at the highest levels of the Premier League.

The Scale of the Issue They Represent

The players at this World Cup represent something far larger than themselves.

Barham Salih, high commissioner for refugees with the UN, placed the issue in global context: “Children and youth are among the most vulnerable during displacement from war, violence and persecution. Some are separated from their families, affected by trauma, and some suffer abuse.”

The UN estimates there are 48.8 million displaced children around the world. The players on the pitch this summer represent a tiny fraction of that figure — the fortunate ones who found safety, opportunity, and the freedom to develop their talent.

Rüdiger’s uncle once hid his family in a bag of rice to keep them alive. Davies grew up in a refugee camp in Ghana. Irankunda arrived in Australia at three months old as a Burundian refugee.

Now all three are playing at a World Cup — one of them captaining a host nation, one scoring its opening goal, and one speaking openly about the responsibility that comes with the platform they have built.

Read More: World Cup 2026: Six Things We Learned From Matchday 1 of World Cup

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