It’s fair to say that this year’s World Cup in Qatar has been full of surprises.

From Saudi Arabia’s win over Argentina to the shock elimination of Germany and Belgium in the group stages, the 22nd edition of the tournament has been very exciting.

And within all the drama that is currently happening in the Middle East, you may have missed that a former Wycombe Wanderers player made their tournament debut in the Arab World.

Matty Cash, who was born in Slough but spent two years in the Chairboys youth academy between 2010 and 2012, has played every second in all of Poland’s three fixtures so far where he has kept two clean sheets.

His World Cup bow means he is one of five players to have featured in the competition and play for Wycombe, either as a youth team player or as a first-team regular.

But who are the other four to join Cash in this unique group of Wycombe alumni?

Ray Wilkins – England, 1982 and 1986 World Cups

Wilkins joined Wycombe in the 1996/97 season, which was one of four clubs he represented that campaign.

Playing once in a 1-0 home defeat against Luton Town in September 1996, he would go on to have spells with Hibernian, Millwall, and Leyton Orient before retiring in 1997.

His move to Buckinghamshire came 10 years after he played in three of England’s five games at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

He also featured in all five of the Three Lions' games at the 1982 competition.

Wilkins, who passed away at the age of 61 in 2018 from a cardiac arrest, also holds the record of being the first Englishman to be sent off at a World Cup.

He received two yellow cards in the space of two minutes in England’s 0-0 draw against Morocco in 1986.

The second caution was for throwing the ball at the referee.

John McClelland – Northern Ireland, 1982 and 1986 World Cups

McClelland, who was best known for his time at Mansfield Town, Rangers, and Watford in the late 1970s to late 1980s, had a very brief stint with Wycombe in 1994 where he didn’t play a single league game for the club.

However, despite playing in every country in the United Kingdom, along with each of the top four tiers in England, he had a successful international career where he played 53 times for Northern Ireland.

He featured in all of their five games at the 1982 World Cup and was an unused substitute in each of Northern Ireland’s three games in 1986.

Rob Lee – England, 1998 World Cup

Lee had played top-flight football for Charlton Athletic, Newcastle United, and Derby County before joining Wycombe Wanderers in 2004, which was the last club he represented.

Across two seasons, the central midfielder played 43 times for the Chairboys with his time at Adams Park coming just short of a decade after he played at France ’98.

Part of Glenn Hoddle’s squad, he played one game which was in England’s 2-0 win over Colombia, where he came on for the final 11 minutes.

Frank Sinclair – Jamaica, 1998 World Cup

Sinclair was part of the first-ever Jamaican squad to reach the World Cup finals in their history 24 years ago, as the Reggae Boyz hoped to cause a few shocks in France.

Ultimately, they were eliminated in the group stage but the defender did play every second of their three games against Argentina, Croatia, and Japan respectively, where they finished third.

Ten-and-a-half years later in January 2009, Sinclair moved to Adams Park on loan from Lincoln City where he featured in nine games.

He eventually helped the Chairboys secure promotion to League One that season.

Matty Cash – Poland, 2022 World Cup

As already mentioned, Cash spent two years in the Wanderers youth academy before being released at the age of 14 in June 2012 – weeks before his 15th birthday.

The club’s dire financial issues at the time meant they had to discontinue their academy to save money, with Cash being one of the youngsters on their books.

He eventually joined the FAB Academy before being scouted by Nottingham Forest.

Cash is now a first-team regular at Aston Villa in the Premier League, and was named the club’ Player of the Year for the 2021/22 season.