Germany, Netherlands and Sweden World Cup Exits Could Work Out Well For Liverpool | OneFootball

We are now at the business end of the World Cup, with some of the last-32 games already played. Several Liverpool players who have been at the World Cup will be heading home early after their national teams’ abrupt exits from the competition.

Reds players heading home from the World Cup

Ailura, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT, CC BY-SA 3.0 AT, via Wikimedia Commons

Liverpool’s Dutch contingent of Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberch will all return home after the Oranje suffered a penalty-kick defeat against Morocco after a 1-1 draw in normal and extra time.

The Reds’ German attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz’s World Cup journey is also over. They suffered a penalty-kick defeat to Paraguay after normal and extra time couldn’t separate the two teams.

Striker Alexander Isak also exited the competition with Sweden after the Scandinavian country suffered a 3-0 defeat to a Kylian Mbappé-inspired France.

The early exits could be a blessing for Liverpool

While the players themselves will be disappointed that their World Cup journeys are over, the early exits could be good news for Liverpool.

Players whose nations have been eliminated will not get a longer break than those still representing their countries at the World Cup. This should mean they will come back to Liverpool training far fresher.

The Reds are expected to give the players three weeks off before they have to report back at the club, which means they should return to training in late July.

If that schedule is correct, the players could be part of the Reds’ squad on the team’s US tour. The tour will give the players a chance to return to match fitness after their short break ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.

It will also give new Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola a chance to take a closer look at the players first-hand and assess their fitness, which can only be a positive ahead of the new campaign.