The World Cup is finally here, and for the first time since 1994, the England squad won’t feature a single Liverpool player. Over the years, the likes of Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, and Jordan Henderson have been mainstays for the Three Lions, but this year, Thomas Tuchel hasn’t selected a single Red. But perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised.
Liverpool have made headlines this season for the sheer lack of English representation in the first team squad. Curtis Jones was the only Englishman who played over 2,000 minutes last term, and he was never truly in contention for selection. Even without any Merseysiders, though, online betting sites still make the Three Lions a genuine contender this summer.
The latest Lucky Rebel World Cup odds currently position Tuchel’s men as a 15/2 third-favourite to win the tournament, with only Spain (9/2) and France (5/1) considered more likely champions. The latter of that market-leading duo will have a Red in their team in the form of Ibrahima Konaté, but which Liverpool stars have been the club’s representatives at the last three World Cups? Let’s take a look.
2022: Ibrahima Konate
Heading into the most recent World Cup in Qatar in 2022, Ibrahima Konaté had appeared just twice for France. He had arrived at Anfield 18 months prior to the tournament kicking off and formed a watertight partnership alongside Virgil van Dijk, helping the Reds on an ultimately unsuccessful quadruple challenge in his debut season.
For the national team, Konaté suddenly had an important role to play, despite his lack of international experience. With injuries catching up with Raphaël Varane, the Liverpool man became a key rotation alongside Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano and Arsenal’s William Saliba, all three of whom would experience plenty of game time for Les Bleus.
Konaté started two group stage games, one of them being a shock defeat to Tunisia. After sitting out the Round of 16 win against Poland and the quarterfinal triumph against England, the centre back would play all 90 minutes of the 2-0 semifinal victory against Morocco, thriving and helping his side keep a clean sheet. He would come off the bench for Varane deep into extra time in the final against Argentina, but Konaté was powerless to resist as Lionel Messi’s Albiceleste claimed the trophy after a heartbreaking penalty shootout.
2018: Dejan Lovren
Dejan Lovren was a much-maligned figure at Anfield. The Croatian defender came in for plenty of criticism from the Anfield faithful for being error-prone at the back, occasionally being a calamity waiting to happen. But there can be no denying that his 2017/18 season was truly special.
For the Reds, he played a starring role in the club’s run to a shock UEFA Champions League final appearance, even assisting Sadio Mane’s equaliser in Kyiv, only for a brilliant Gareth Bale brace to secure the title for Real Madrid. But at the World Cup, Lovren would play an even greater role in an even bigger shock.
The former Southampton man was Croatia’s most experienced defender at the 2018 showpiece, and he would play like a man who knew exactly how important he truly was. Alongside fellow golden generation stars such as Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic, and Mario Mandzukic, the Vatreni would announce their arrival in the group stage when they thumped Lionel Messi’s Argentina 3-0. That result helped Zlatko Dalic’s side top Group D, and following surprising early exits for both Germany and Spain, the draw suddenly opened up.
Throughout the knockout rounds, Croatia would have to run the gauntlet. Their Round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinal games all went to extra time, and Lovren played every single minute of each of them as his side beat both Denmark and hosts Russia on penalties, before seeing off England in the additional period in the semis.
That run secured a first-ever final appearance against a Kylian Mbappe-powered France, and unfortunately, Les Bleus would have too much for the underdogs to handle. Goals from Mbappe, Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann, and a Mandzukic own goal secured a 4-2 win for the French on a rainy afternoon in Moscow, but not before Lovren proved to the world just how good he truly could be when the pressure was on, and the chips were down.
2014: Luis Suarez
Was there a more polarising footballer in England when Luis Suárez was strutting his stuff for Liverpool? Incidents with Branislav Ivanovic and Patrice Evra saw the Uruguayan miss a record number of games due to suspension, but his blistering form throughout the 2013/14 season left no one in any doubt as to who the best striker in the world was. Suárez netted 31 goals in 33 games throughout the Reds’ Premier League title near miss that year, but questions surrounded his fitness heading into the World Cup.
Suárez missed Uruguay’s opening day defeat against Costa Rica, but he would return for the second group stage game against England, scoring twice and dumping out the Three Lions in the process. He would then play 90 minutes in the third game against Italy, a game the Uruguayans won 1-0 to eliminate the Azzurri, but a shocking bite on Giorgio Chiellini saw Suarez suspended for the rest of the tournament. Still, that stunning display against England is enough to consider him the Reds’ best performer in Brazil that summer.