City’s World Cup years: 2014 | OneFootball

As the whole world descended on Brazil in 2014, several City players went into the FIFA World Cup full of enthusiasm.

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Manuel Pellegrini’s side had just lifted the Premier League for the second time in three seasons, while 10 of those went to one of the game’s spiritual homes with glory on their mind.

Here we’ll take a look at how they did…

Argentina - Sergio Aguero, Martin Demichelis, Pablo Zabaleta

All three were heavily involved for La Albiceleste as they reached the final and came within one swing of Mario Gotze’s boot away from taking the showpiece to penalties.

Instead, it was heartbreak at the very last hurdle.

However, they were in fine form up until that point – winning all three group games and getting past Switzerland, Belgium and Netherlands to get to the final.

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Zabaleta started all seven matches, with Aguero a key starter early on before having to play an impact sub’s role later on.

Demichelis went the other way, watching the first few games from the bench before starting the quarter-final, semi-final and final at centre back.

Belgium - Vincent Kompany

Our captain fantastic was also the leader of his nation’s golden generation, with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne (just 12 months away from joining City), Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku all in the squad.

Hopes were high that despite their lack of big tournament experience, Belgium could shock the world.

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And they won all three group games against Algeria, Russia and South Korea before an extra-time defeat of the United States.

The quarter-finals was where it ended, narrowly losing 1-0 to eventual finalists Argentina but Kompany had done his international reputation no harm at all.

Bosnia & Herzegovina - Edin Dzeko

Qualifying for the tournament was a historic moment for Bosnia & Herzegovina, doing so for the first time in their 22-year history.

Dzeko was undoubtedly their star man and scored the opener in a 3-1 win over Iran that closed out their group stage.

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It wasn’t enough to take them through, but a special day nonetheless.

2026 marks their second appearance at the tournament, with Dzeko incredibly still leading the line at 40.

Brazil – Fernandinho

The pressure was on for the hosts, who consider a 12-year wait for World Cup success a long time.

After a sparkling first season in England, Fernandinho was unused during the group stage but became crucial to Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side in the knockout stages.

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He played 72 minutes in the Round of 16 win over Chile, the full game against Colombia in the quarter-finals before 45 minutes in a semi-final to forget against Germany.

England - Joe Hart, James Milner

England went into the Group of Death with Italy, Uruguay and surprise package Costa Rica.

Even so, it was a difficult couple of weeks as they picked up just one point.

Hart played the first two games with Milner on the pitch for 72 minutes of the draw with Costa Rica.

Ivory Coast - Yaya Toure

Our brilliant midfielder was captain of his country who went into perhaps the last chance saloon for a special generation of players.

It started well with a 2-1 win over Japan, including a goal from future City man Wilfried Bony before defeat to Colombia and Greece ended the dream at the group stage.

Spain - David Silva

Another brilliant City player operating at the peak of his powers, Silva remained a key player for the side that had won three major tournaments before this one.

However, it felt like the end of an era for this team as they went out in the group stage following defeats to Netherlands and Chile before a consolation win over Australia.

Silva started the first two matches from an unfamiliar right wing position, although Spain’s tactics meant he spent a lot of time operating in the middle of the pitch.