On November 11th, we saw a clash of the Borussia sides in the Bundesliga, and eight World Cup squads released! Netherlands, Senegal, Uruguay, Argentina, Qatar, Portugal, Serbia and Spain all revealed their teams today. Unsurprisingly, Netherland’s captain Virgil Van Dijk was selected, and $85M frontman Darwin Nunez was picked for Uruguay. Thiago and Fabio Carvalho were both sadly omitted from their respective sides, while Jota missed out due to injury. Ex-Red Sadio Mane was predictably picked for Senegal, as were Sebastian Coates and Luis Suarez for Uruguay, and Marko Grujic for Serbia. Former Liverpool men Luis Alberto and Iago Aspas were surprisingly both absent from Spain’s team. Lastly, Gini Wijnaldum missed out on the Netherlands side due to a long-term injury, and Lazar Markovic missed out due to just being a wee bit sub-par at football.

Netherlands

As stated above, international captain and Liverpool defensive rock Virgil Van Dijk was picked, which will definitely improve the Netherlands’s defensive record since Euro 2022. He will be joined in defence by two Manchester men, City’s Nathan Ake, and United’s Tyrell Malacia, but playing time will be hard to come by in a defence including De Ligt, De Vrij, Dumfries, and more. Lastly, former Liverpool hero Gini Wijnaldum was understandably absent as he recovers from a leg break suffered earlier this year.

Netherlands Full Squad

Goalkeepers

Justin Bijlow (Feyenoord), Remko Pasveer (Ajax), Andries Noppert (Heerenveen)

Full Backs

Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen), Denzell Dumfries (Inter Milan), Tyrell Malacia (Manchester United)

Multipurpose Backs

Daley Blind (Ajax), Nathan Ake (Manchester City), Jurrien Timber (Ajax)

Centre Backs

Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool), Stefan De Vrij (Inter Milan), Matthias De Ligt (Bayern Munich),

Centre Midfielders

Frenkie De Jong (Barcelona), Marten de Roon (Atalanta), Davy Klaassen (Ajax), Xavi Simons (PSV), Kenneth Taylor (Ajax), Teun Koopmeiners (Atalanta)

Wingers

Cody Gakpo (PSV), Steven Bergwijn (Ajax), Noa Lang (Club Brugge)

Centre Forwards

Memphis Depay (Barcelona), Luuk De Jong (PSV), Wout Weghorst (Besiktas), Vincent Janssen (Royal Antwerp)

Senegal

Meanwhile, Netherland’s Group A rivals Senegal also revealed their squad today. Ex-Reds man Sadio Mane was unsurprisingly selected, despite injury concerns. Elsewhere in the Premier League, Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy will start in goal, with his club teammate Kalidou Koulibaly providing protection in the back. Everton’s Idrissa Gueye was selected in the midfield, along with Forest’s Cheikhou Kouyate, Leicester’s Nampalys Mendy, and Tottenham reserve Pape Matar Sarr.

Senegal Full Squad

Goalkeepers

Edouard Mendy (Chelsea), Alfred Gomis (Rennes), Seny Dieng (QPR)

Full Backs

Fode Ballo-Toure (AC Milan), Ismail Jakobs (AS Monaco), Youssouf Sabaly (Real Betis)

Centre Backs

Kalidou Koulibaly (Chelsea), Abdou Diallo (RB Leipzig), Formose Mendy (Amiens SC), Pape Abou Cisse (Olympiacos)

Centre Midfielders

Idrissa Gana Gueye (Everton), Cheikhou Kouyate (Nottingham Forest), Pathe Ciss (Rayo Vallecano), Pape Gueye (Marseille), Pape Matar Sarr (Tottenham), Nampalys Mendy (Leicester City), Nicolas Jackson (Villarreal)

Wingers

Sadio Mane (Bayern Munich), Ismaila Sarr (Watford), Krepin Diatta (AS Monaco), Moustapha Name (Pafos FC), Loum Ndiaye (Reading)

Centre Forwards

Boulaye Dia (Salernitana), Iliman Ndiaye (Sheffield United), Bamba Dieng (Marseille), Famara Diedhiou (Alanyaspor)

Uruguay

Uruguay also revealed their national team today, and our $85M target man was included! Nunez will play alongside a former Liverpool Uruguayan sensation up top, Luis Suarez. One more ex-Liverpool man will be on the flight from Uruguay to Qatar, as centre back Sebastian Coates makes the squad for the third consecutive time. Only two other Premier League players make up Uruguay’s squad, as Tottenham’s Rodrigo Bentancur will take up a place in the middle, and Manchester United reserve Facundo Pellistri will serve as a back-up attacker.

Uruguay Full Squad

Goalkeepers

Fernando Muslera (Galatasaray), Sergio Rochet (Nacional), Sebastian Sosa (Independiente)

Full Backs

Mathias Olivera (Napoli), Jose Luis Rodriguez (Nacional), Guillermo Varela (Flamengo), Matias Vina (Roma)

Centre Backs

Ronald Araujo (Barcelona), Jose Gimenez (Atletico Madrid), Sebastian Coates (Sporting CP), Diego Godin (Velez Sarsfield), Martin Caceres (LA Galaxy)

Centre Midfielders

Rodrigo Bentancur (Tottenham), Lucas Torreira (Galatasaray), Federico Valverde (Real Madrid), Matias Vecino (Lazio), Nicolas de la Cruz (River Plate), Manuel Ugarte (Sporting CP), Giorgian de Arrascaeta (Flamengo)

Wingers

Agustin Cannobio (Atlético Paranaense), Facundo Pellistri (Manchester United), Facundo Torres (Orlando City)

Centre Forwards

Luis Suarez (Nacional), Edinson Cavani (Valencia), Maxi Gomez (Trabzonspor), Darwin Nunez (Liverpool)

Argentina

Well, shortly after Uruguay, another group of South American giants released their full squad for Qatar. There was no past or present Liverpool representation in the Argentina squad, but plenty of Premier League players were included. For starters, Villa’s Emiliano Martinez will be between the sticks, with the centre back duo of Tottenham’s Christian Romero and United’s Lisandro Martinez likely to start in front of him. Brighton’s Alexis McAllister will be hungry for minutes as a creative midfielder, while City’s Julian Alvarez will attempt to fight his way into a very talented attack force. Lastly, Garnacho was thankfully snubbed, so we won’t have to hear United fans deliver sermons about their “starboy” for months.

Argentina Full Squad

Goalkeepers

Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Geronimo Rulli (Villarreal), Franco Armani (River Plate)

Full Backs

Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon), Marcos Acuna (Sevilla), Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid)

 Centre Backs

Christian Romero (Tottenham), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), German Pezzella (Real Betis), Juan Foyth (Villarreal)

Centre Midfield

Leandro Paredes (Juventus), Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico de Madrid), Enzo Fernandez (Benfica), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis)

Wingers

Angel Di Maria (PSG), Nicolas Gonzalez (Fiorentina), Alejandro Gomez (Seville)

Multipurpose Attackers

Lionel Messi (PSG), Julian Alvarez (Manchester City), Alexis MacAllister (Brighton), Paulo Dybala (Juventus),

Centre Forwards

Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan), Joaquin Correa (Inter Milan)

Qatar

The hosts also revealed their squad on the 11th, and there was obviously no Liverpool or Premier League representation, as well as no representation from any European or South American league, probably a first in World Cup history. One other interesting fact about the Qatar team is that goalkeeper Yousuf Hassan of the Emirates Club is the only player to play for a team that does not start with “Al”, and 13 of Qatar’s 26 players play for Al-Sadd, which also had to be a record.

Qatar Full Squad

Goalkeepers

Saad Al Sheeb (Al-Sadd), Meshaal Barsham (Al-Sadd), Yousuf Hassan (Emirates Club)

Full Backs

Abdelkarim Hassan (Al-Sadd), Homam Ahmed (Al-Gharafa), Jassim Al-Jaber (Al-Waad)

Centre Backs

Tarek Salman (Al-Sadd), Boualem Khoukhi (Al-Sadd), Bassam Al Rawi (Al-Duhail), Pedro Miguel (Al-Sadd)

Centre Midfielders

Karim Boudiaf (Al-Duhail), Assim Modibo (Al-Duhail), Ali Assadala (Al-Sadd), Mohammed Waad (Al-Sadd), Salem Al Hajri (Al-Sadd), Abdulaziz Hatem (Al-Rayyan), Naif Al-Hadhrami (Al-Rayyan)

Wingers

Almoez Ali (Al-Duhail), Ismael Mohammed (Al-Duhail), Khalid Muneer (Al-Wakrah), Ahmed Alaa (Al-Gharafa)

Centre Forwards

Akram Afif (Al-Sadd), Mohammed Muntari (Al-Duhail), Hassan Al-Haydos (Al-Sadd)

Portugal

Naturally, Portugal decided to announce their roster on the same day as Argentina, probably to continue the never-ending game of overshadowing between Messi and Ronaldo. Sadly, Diogo Jota missed out due to injury, and Fabio Carvalho was not selected to take his spot. Across the Premier League, Wolves’ keeper Jose Sa was selected in goal. The City duo of Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo will team up with their crosstown rival Diogo Dalot in defence. Fulham  midfielder Joao Palhinha will compete with Wolves’ duo Ruben Neves and Joao Mario. The Manchester rivalry continues in attack, as City’s Bernardo Silva and United’s Bruno Fernandes will most likely be gunning for a similar spot, while United’s enigma Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to lead the line.

Goalkeepers

Diogo Costa (FC Porto), Jose Sa (Wolverhampton), Rui Patricio (AS Roma)

Full Backs

Joao Cancelo (Manchester City), Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), Nuno Mendes (PSG), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund)

Centre Backs

Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Pepe (Porto), Antonio Silva (Benfica), Danilo Pereira (PSG)

Centre Midfielders

Joao Palhinha (Fulham FC), Ruben Neves (Wolverhampton), Joao Mario (SL Benfica), Matheus Nunes (Wolverhampton), Vitinha (PSG), William Carvalho (Real Betis)

Multipurpose Attackers

Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid)

Wingers

Otavio Monteiro (FC Porto), Rafael Leao (AC Milan), Ricardo Horta (SC Braga)

Centre Forwards

Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Andre Silva (RB Leipzig), Goncalo Ramos (Benfica)

Serbia

There was obviously no current Liverpool presence in the Serbia squad, but Marko Grujic did earn a spot on the flight to Qatar. Although it didn’t work out at Liverpool, the 6’3 midfielder still has a place in our hearts, and it’s good to see him do so well. There’s only one other Premier League player on the Serbia roster, and you could say it’s one that Liverpool is all too familiar with: Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic, another talented 6’3 man, which might be a recurring trend with this Serbia squad.

Serbia Full Squad

Goalkeepers

Marko Dmitrovic (Sevilla), Predrag Rajkovic (Mallorca), Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (Torino)

Full Backs

Filip Mladenovic (Legia Warsaw),  Strahinja Erakovic (Red Star Belgrade),

Centre Backs

Srdjan Babic (Almeria), Stefan Mitrovic (Getafe), Milos Veljkovic (Werder Bremen), Strahinja Pavlovic (RB Salzburg), Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina)

Centre Midfielders

Marko Grujic (Porto), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Lazio), Nemanja Maksimovic (Getafe), Ivan Illic (Hellas Verona), Nemanja Gudelj (Sevilla), Uros Racic (Braga), Sasa Lukic (Torino)

Wingers

Filip Kostic (Juventus), Dusan Tadic (Ajax), Andrija Zivkovic (PAOK), Filip Djuricic (Sampdoria), Darko Lazovic (Hellas Verona)

Centre Forwards

Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus), Aleksandar Mitrovic (Fulham), Luka Jovic (Fiorentina), Nemanja Radonjic (Torino)

Spain

Lastly, Los Blancos also revealed their squad on the 11th. Despite plenty of eligible past and present Liverpool options, none were chosen, with Thiago, Iago Aspas, Luis Alberto, Alberto Moreno, and more all missing out. Elsewhere across the Premier League, United’s David de Gea shockingly missed out, with Brentford’s David Raya and Brighton’s Robert Sanchez being preferred in goal. Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta and City’s Aymeric Laporte both were selected in defence (and are likely to start with Sergio Ramos shockingly omitted). Lastly, City’s steel holding midfielder, Rodri was selected, no surprise there.

Spain Full Squad

Goalkeepers

Unai Simon (Athletic Club), Robert Sanchez (Brighton), David Raya (Brentford)

Full Backs

Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Jose Gaya (Valencia)

Multipurpose Defenders

Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea)

Centre Backs

Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City), Pau Torres (Villarreal), Eric Garcia (Barcelona), Hugo Guillamon (Valencia)

Centre Midfielders

Sergio Busquets (FC Barcelona), Rodri (Manchester City), Gavi (FC Barcelona), Carlos Soler (PSG), Marcos Llorente (Atletico Madrid), Pedri (Barcelona), Koke (Atletico Madrid)

Wingers

Marco Asensio (Real Madrid), Ferran Torres (Barcelona), Yeremy Pino (Villarreal), Nico Williams (Athletic Club)

Multipurpose Attackers

Ansu Fati (Barcelona), Pablo Sarabia (PSG), Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig)

Centre Forwards

Alvaro Morata (Atletico Madrid),