Other
Summary + sample · full document is 1,171 words
How we go from "the 48 qualified nations" to "every player who plausibly plays a minute at WC2026, with the per-player features that the existing research notes say predict betting markets best."
Companion to: - data-sources.md and data-sources-matrix.md — what's available where. - player-quality.md and player-expected-value.md — what features matter. - modeling-targets-and-variables.md — which features feed which markets.
Candidate-player pool. Anyone who has been called up to a senior national team for a WC2026-qualified nation in the last 24 months. This is a superset of the eventual 26-man squads (released ~June 2026) and lets us pre-build features before final squad announcements. Rough size: 48 nations × ~50 candidates ≈ 2,400 players.
Out of scope. U-21/U-23 selections (unless a player has also been in a senior call-up); youth-academy players; players uncapped at senior level; retired internationals.
Pro
Player Data Curation for WC2026 — Plan runs 1,171 words. Pro members get every research note in full, plus the arbitrage feed, model outputs, and weekly updates.