‘Unbelievable’ Liverpool favourite provides his nation with huge boost ahead of World Cup | OneFootball

One Liverpool player has provided his national team with a significant boost ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Despite not playing for his club since tearing ankle ligaments in the Reds’ 1-0 win at Sunderland in mid-February, Wataru Endo – previously hailed by Arne Slot for his ‘unbelievable‘ mentality – was named in the Japan squad for the upcoming tournament in North America.

DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL EMPIRE OF THE KOP APP FOR ALL THE LATEST & BREAKING UPDATES – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAY

The 33-year-old – who captains his country – was an unused substitute in our season-ending 1-1 draw against Brentford last weekend, but he made his comeback to action for the Blue Samurai on Sunday as they beat Iceland 1-0 in a warm-up friendly in Tokyo ahead of the World Cup.

Endo makes his comeback in Japan victory

The Liverpool midfielder started for Hajime Moriyasu’s side and played the first half of the match before being substituted at the interval.

Despite being Japan’s lowest-rated player according to Sofascore metrics, the Reds’ number 3 won a couple of his duels and completed 37 of his 44 passes (84% success) in his first taste of matchday action for nearly four months.

Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust

Endo’s return gives Japan huge boost for the World Cup

Kopites will be delighted to see Endo getting back on the pitch after such a lengthy absence, and his 45-minute involvement against Iceland will come as a huge boost to his country just two weeks out from their opening World Cup fixture against Netherlands.

His status as captain underlines how important he is to the Blue Samurai, and coming through today’s match unscathed should give him an extra few days to further build up his fitness once the team lands in North America for the tournament.

He’ll have plenty of insider knowledge on three of his opponents in Japan’s first game at the finals, having trained and played alongside Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo for the past three years at Liverpool.

In what’ll be his third inclusion for a World Cup (although he didn’t play in 2018), Endo will hope to lead his nation as deep into the competition as possible and play a central role (literally and figuratively) in their endeavours.

From a Reds perspective, hopefully he can enjoy a positive tournament and come back to Merseyside revitalised and raring to go for next season after having a large chunk of his 2025/26 campaign curtailed by injury.