Including an Israeli representative: 11 headline-grabbing WAGs of the 2026 World Cup
As in every World Cup, over the next six weeks of the world’s biggest football celebration, attention will not only be on the players, but also on the footballers’ wives and girlfriends. The WAGs, a term coined by the English at the end of the previous century during the Victoria Beckham era, are in some cases celebrities in their own right. Whether models, actresses or social media influencers, they attract huge followings online, where they post photos and messages that draw millions of likes. During the matches, viewers may spot famous women in the stands of stadiums in North America, from Antonela Roccuzzo, Lionel Messi’s wife, to Georgina Rodríguez, Cristiano Ronaldo’s partner, who has already appeared in many World Cups, but never as a fiancée or legal wife, a status that may soon change.
In the list of footballers’ partners who earn hundreds of thousands of euros from each social media post are Esther Expósito, the 26-year-old Spanish actress who, according to reports, is Kylian Mbappé’s partner; Martina, or “Tini,” Stoessel, the famous 29-year-old Argentine actress, singer and model, who is Rodrigo De Paul’s partner; and Bruna Biancardi, the 32-year-old Brazilian model and influencer, Neymar’s fiancée. The relationship between Esther Expósito and the captain of France, Kylian Mbappé, has occupied European tabloids extensively, although neither of them has officially confirmed it. The Real Madrid star and the star of the series “Elite” were seen together for the first time in March 2026, and Expósito was later seen in one of the VIP boxes at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
Mbappé’s Real Madrid teammate Jude Bellingham also has an impressive partner. The model Ashlyn Castro, who lives in Los Angeles, met the English midfielder in November 2024, and the two were first seen together a few months later. Since they met, Castro has been a regular presence at Real Madrid home games, and she is expected to be present at the World Cup as well, especially because the tournament will be held in the region where she is from. Mbappé and Bellingham are not the only Real Madrid players whose partners are on the list. There is also an Israeli representative, and of course it is Mishel Gerzig, Thibaut Courtois’s wife. The 29-year-old model and entrepreneur married the Belgian goalkeeper three years ago, and they have one daughter. She has 815,000 followers on Instagram.
Alongside Leo Messi and Antonela, Inter Miami has another couple on the list. Tini Stoessel’s popularity through her relationship with Rodrigo De Paul is approaching that of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, since the Argentine is a pop star and former child actress. Also drawing attention was Jameela Pir, the wife of Australia midfielder Jackson Irvine. Their story made headlines in 2024. After his club, St. Pauli, celebrated for several days its return to the Bundesliga, the two planned to get married, but Irvine made a major mistake. Irvine and Pir drove for hours to a marriage registry office in Copenhagen, but when they arrived they discovered that he had forgotten his passport. They had to go back and collect it before they could carry out their plan and get married.
Not only Bellingham is cheered on by an attractive partner. Tolami Benson is not left behind, she regularly posts photos of her fiancé Bukayo Saka in an Arsenal kit, including the shirt in which he won the English championship, and shows creativity in the outfits she chooses for match days. The newest addition is Ella Buffin. The 24-year-old British model was first photographed earlier this month with Tottenham and Netherlands defender Micky van de Ven during a couple’s vacation in Marbella. Buffin has more than 700,000 followers on TikTok and another 137,000 on Instagram, but she is, as mentioned, a new name in the world of WAGs and this could be her big break.
Finally, Neymar, who is currently suffering from another calf injury, also earns a place on the list thanks to his partner. His relationship with Bruna Biancardi has gone through many ups and downs. In 2023, the Brazil captain was caught kissing a Brazilian blogger while his partner, with whom he had been in a relationship for two years, was pregnant. Neymar then published a long public apology to his pregnant girlfriend: “I was wrong... I can’t imagine myself without you!” Biancardi gave birth to their daughter, Mavie, in October 2023, and in July the following year the striker and Bruna became parents to another daughter, Mel. However, between those two happy events, their relationship broke down again. Then came another reconciliation, just like in a telenovela. Rumors that Neymar was expecting a child with a model named Amanda Kimberly turned out to be true, when his “out-of-wedlock” daughter, Helena, was born in July 2024. Now it appears that the two are closer than ever. Proof came when Bruna Biancardi published an emotional letter on social media, in which she defended Neymar against harsh criticism after coach Carlo Ancelotti decided to include him in Brazil’s 26-player squad for the World Cup.
