There are only 10 Liverpool players to have ever won the World Cup, with just two of those having featured in the final while registered for the Reds.
With the World Cup about to kick off, we have taken a look back at the 10 Liverpool players who boast a World Cup winner’s medal among their collection.
Surprisingly, only two serving Liverpool players, Roger Hunt and Fernando Torres, have ever played in a World Cup final and won.
In addition, there have been three Liverpool players who have lost World Cup finals: Dejan Lovren in 2018, Dirk Kuyt in 2010 and Didi Hamann in 2002, plus Javier Mascherano as a Barcelona player in 2014.
Roger Hunt – 1966
Roger Hunt World Cup trophy Goodison Park Everton FA Cup Charity Shield August 13 1966 (Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix / Alamy Stock Photo) 1960s
Country: England | Caps: 34
Liverpool’s second-highest scorer died in 2021 but passed away as a man who helped drive his teams to momentous achievements during his football career.
Hunt was a crucial part of Liverpool’s first-ever FA Cup win in 1965 and, a year later, he was at Wembley again to start up front for England in their 4-2 (aet) World Cup final win over West Germany.
Less than two weeks after the final, Hunt was back in Liverpool colours for the Charity Shield and facing Everton in the same stadium.
Ahead of the match, Everton‘s World Cup winner, Alan Ball, and he famously paraded the Jules Rimet Trophy in front of both sets of supporters.
Fernando Torres – 2010
03.07.2010, Ellis Park, Johannesburg, RSA, FIFA WM 2010, Viertelfinale, Paraguay (PAR) vs Spanien (ESP) im Bild .Fernando Torres of Spain vs Claudio Morel of Paraguay and Jonathan Santana of Paraguay, EXPA Pictures © 2010, PhotoCredit: EXPA/ Sportida/ Vid Ponikvar, ATTENTION! Slovenia OUT
Country: Spain | Caps: 110
While Torres might have been beginning to falter at Liverpool due to injury, around the world he was still considered among the game’s best strikers.
Having scored the winner in the final of Euro 2008, Torres went to South Africa as Spain’s forward but struggled with fitness issues, so he only got 14 minutes from the bench in the final.
Nevertheless, he featured seven times as his nation triumphed despite his failure to hit the net.
Ian Callaghan – 1966
Ian Callaghan Liverpool April 15 1963 Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool - 1960s (PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo)
Country: England | Caps: 4
As Liverpool’s all-time top appearance maker, playing 857 times for the Reds, Ian Callaghan will be forever associated with his club, not country.
His performances in Liverpool’s 1965/66 title-winning campaign, though, meant he was also called up for England’s home World Cup squad.
The Liverpudlian only played one match – the final group game that they won 2-0 against France – but Callaghan still made his mark as he set up teammate Hunt for the striker’s second goal of the day.
Gerry Byrne – 1966
Liverpool celebrate wrapping up the League Championship with a 5-0 win over Arsenal: (back row, l-r) Alf Arrowsmith, Ronnie Moran, Gerry Byrne, Ian Callaghan; (front row, l-r) Roger Hunt, Gordon Milne, Ian St John, Tommy Lawrence, Peter Thompson, Wilf Stevenson, Ron Yeats
Country: England | Caps: 2
He may not have played, but having a reserve left-back of Gerry Byrne’s calibre must have been of real reassurance to manager Alf Ramsey.
In 1966, it was only the first XI who received medals for winning, but FIFA changed this ruling in 1978 to hand medals to the full squad.
While Byrne didn’t get on the pitch against West Germany, in 2009 he was finally awarded a medal for his hand in England’s finest footballing hour, six years before his death.
Pepe Reina – 2010
Pepe Reina of Spain celebrates with the World Cup trophy, 2010 ( Bernd Weissbrod/DPA/PA Images)
Country: Spain | Caps: 36
Although he was a big character in the squad, Pepe Reina’s caps for his country were restricted to 36 because of the competition he faced.
With Real Madrid‘s Iker Casillas and Barcelona‘s Victor Valdes also in contention, Reina didn’t get to play at the World Cup but does have the medal in his cabinet alongside those from Euro 2008 and Euro 2012, too.
Alexis Mac Allister – 2022
New Liverpool signing Alexis Mac Allister is keen to add more trophies to the World Cup he won with Argentina last winter (Mike Egerton/PA)
Country: Argentina | Caps: 44 *and counting
Six months before joining Liverpool, Alexis Mac Allister proved to the world his quality as he started every game but the first of Argentina’s World Cup success in Qatar.
The midfielder produced a lovely finish to help beat Poland 2-0 in the group stage, while also providing a brilliant assist for Angel Di Maria’s goal in the final.
The fact Mac Allister had won the World Cup made the £35 million fee paid by Liverpool the following summer even more of a bargain!
Bernard Diomede – 1998
Country: France | Caps: 8
The undoubted highlight of Bernard Diomede’s career was winning the 1998 World Cup in his home country of France.
A winger for Auxerre at the time, he started France’s final two group matches and the nerve-shattering round of 16 tie against Paraguay, which the French won on golden goal.
He didn’t feature at all for the rest of the competition, though, and didn’t truly reach the potential promised in his career.
Two years after his World Cup win, Gerard Houllier signed compatriot Diomede for £3m, but the Frenchman only started three times across the whole 2000/01 treble-winning campaign and was later loaned to Ajaccio in January 2003, having played just five times.
Alvaro Arbeloa – 2010
HULL, ENGLAND - Saturday, April 25, 2009: Liverpool's Alvaro Arbeloa in action against Hull City during the Premiership match at the KC Stadium. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Country: Spain | Caps: 56
Alvaro Arbeloa left for Madrid in 2009 and won the Champions League twice before going on to become their manager this year, taking over from the next man on this list, Xabi Alonso.
In South Africa, he was consigned to the bench for all but 13 minutes, with Sergio Ramos playing at right-back while Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique transferred their Barcelona centre-back partnership to the international stage.
The right-back would, though, become a much more important figure soon after, playing every minute of Spain’s road to European Championships glory in 2012.
Xabi Alonso – 2010
21.06.2010, Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg, RSA, FIFA WM 2010, Spain (ESP) vs Honduras (HND), im Bild Xabi Alonso of Spain vs Amado Guevara of Honduras. EXPA Pictures © 2010, PhotoCredit: EXPA/ Sportida/ Vid Ponikvar
Country: Spain | Caps: 114
Unlike Arbeloa and Reina, Alonso was a key player for Vicente del Bosque’s team as he started every match in a formidable midfield.
Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Sergio Busquets made up the rest of the midfield while, quite incredibly, David Silva and Cesc Fabregas and Juan Mata had to sit on the bench.
One of the most memorable moments from a drab final, which was won 1-0 thanks to Iniesta’s extra-time strike, was when Nigel de Jong somehow only received a yellow card for kung-fu kicking Alonso square in the chest.
In the end, the beautiful game won out as Spain’s tiki-taka beat the Netherlands’ brutal approach.
Karl-Heinz Riedle – 1990
Karl Heinz Riedle, Liverpool, 1997 ( Neal Simpson/EMPICS Sport)
Country: Germany | Caps: 42
Liverpool didn’t get Karl-Heinz Riedle until he was 31 years old and past his heyday, but in his prime, the German striker was one of Europe’s best.
At Italia ’90, he started the quarter-final against Czechoslovakia and the semi-final against England, which saw the Germans win on penalties.
However, the forward, who moved from Werder Bremen to Lazio that summer, didn’t feature in the final but had still played his part for manager Franz Beckenbauer in Germany’s third World Cup win,