Liverpool Players Called Up for the World Cup | OneFootball

Liverpool may have had a poor domestic season which resulted in them finishing fifth while failing to defend the Premier League title, but they will still be well represented well at the World Cup.

The greatest tournament in sport will be a welcome distraction for all Liverpool players involved, and they will be desperate to impress newly announced manager Andoni Iraola.

In total eleven Liverpool players have been called up for their countries, with three of those playing for the Netherlands and five of them competing in the same Group F.

The Group F Cohort

Group F fixtures:Netherlands v Japan – June 14 (4pm ET)Netherlands v Sweden – June 20 (1pm ET)Netherlands v Tunisia – June 27 (7pm ET)

Netherlands

Three key players for club and the Netherlands, Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo will have designs on winning their country their first ever World Cup. Despite being one of the most influential soccer nations in history, the Dutch have famously finished as runners-up on three occasions (1974, 1978 and 2010) without ever lifting the trophy.

Always the bridesmaid and never the bride. At 34, another bite at the cherry is not guaranteed for van Dijk and as one of the greatest centre-backs of all time you would expect he would have liked to have made more of an impact for his national team.

Gravenberch and Gakpo have both had very disappointing individual campaigns for Liverpool. Gravenberch was one of the best midfielders in the league last season when Liverpool won the league, but he now looks a shadow of himself. Gakpo similarly has frustrated Liverpool fans this year but should be a guaranteed starter for the Netherlands and will be expected to provide the goods. He has 19 goals in 49 international caps.

Sweden

This will be Alexander Isak’s first World Cup after 57 caps. He made his senior international debut for Sweden in 2017 but was not selected for the 2018 World Cup squad as a teenager.

They failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. But under new manager Graham Potter, Isak will lead the line with Arsenal’s Viktor Gyökeres.

Japan

Wataru Endo has the dubious honor of playing against four of his Liverpool colleagues.

With the tactical flexibility of their manager as well as players such as Endo, Takefusa Kubo, Daichi Kamada, Hiroki Ito and Ajax’s Takehiro Tomiyasu, Japan are widely regarded as dark horses at this World Cup.

They beat England 1-0 in a friendly in March at Wembley, and completely outclassed Thomas Tuchel’s side.

Brazil – Alisson Becker

Group C fixtures:Brazil v Morocco – June 13 (6pm ET)Brazil v Haiti – June 19 (8:30pm ET)Brazil v Scotland – June 24 (6pm ET)

Alisson has had an injury-hit campaign for the Reds this season and started 26 league games, keeping eight clean sheets. Regardless, he is expected to get the gloves for Brazil and start for them.

Brazil are the most decorated team in World Cup history with five trophies, but have not won the competition since 2002.

Alisson holds the record for the most clean sheets for Brazil in the 21st century (45 across all international matches), sitting ahead of legends like Júlio César and Dida. He has kept five clean sheets for Brazil in nine World Cup matches in his career.

Argentina – Alexis Mac Allister

Group J fixtures:Argentina v Algeria – June 16 (9pm ET)Argentina v Austria – June 22 (1pm ET)Argentina v Jordan – June 27 (10pm ET)

Argentina are the reigning World Champions, so Mac Allister knows what it is like to win the World Cup and was a critical player for Lionel Scaloni in 2022. Mac Allister is coming off the back of a very poor individual season for Liverpool but form goes out of the window in national football.

Argentina largely have the same squad as in 2022 and are still led by talisman Lionel Messi. They will want to send him off with a second World Cup trophy to his name.

Germany – Florian Wirtz

Group E fixtures:Germany v Curaçao – June 14 (1pm ET)Germany v Ivory Coast – June 20 (4pm ET)Germany v Ecuador – June 25 (4pm ET)

Wirtz will be making his World Cup debut after he was cruelly denied a spot in Qatar 2022 after suffering a severe anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear while playing for Bayer Leverkusen in March 2022.

Wirtz had a disappointing first season at Liverpool after his $138 million move from Leverkusen, registering just five goals and three assists in the league.

He will be hoping for a big World Cup to re-announce himself on the global stage. Germany last won the World Cup in 2014 but since then have suffered back-to-back, unprecedented group-stage exits.

Their squad is not very strong, and they are not among the favourites to win it this year.

France – Ibrahima Konaté

Group I fixtures:France v Senegal – June 16 (3pm ET)France v Iraq – June 22 (5pm ET)France v Norway – June 26 (3pm ET)

This will the 27 year-old defender’s second World Cup appearance. in 2022 he helped France reach the final, which they lost to Argentina in penalty kicks.

Egypt – Mohamed Salah

Group G fixtures:Egypt v Belgium – June 15 (3pm ET)Egypt v New Zealand – June 21 (9pm ET)Egypt v Iran – June 26 (11pm ET)

Though he’s leaving the club, not putting Salah in this list feels wrong. The Egyptian king is a bonafide Liverpool legend, and although this season didn’t live up to his usual lofty expectations, he hopes to lead the Pharaohs deep into the World Cup knockouts.

Scotland – Andy Robertson

Group C fixtures:Scotland v Haiti – June 13 (9pm ET)Scotland v Morocco – June 19 (6pm ET)Scotland v Brazil – June 24 (6pm ET)

He never had the stats or the impact, but Robertson is no less a legend than Mo Salah. The two joined in 2017 and departed this year. And no, Spurs fans, you cannot claim him yet. Any glory he earns in a Scotland kit remains Merseyside.