This summer’s World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico runs from 11 June to 19 July, and Anfield will be well represented across the tournament. With FIFA World Cup odds already shaping the market around the favourites, up to 16 current and departing Liverpool players are expected to feature across the 48-nation field, representing countries from the Netherlands and Argentina to France, Scotland, Japan, and Sweden. Here is a look at the players who could make the biggest impact.
Virgil van Dijk: Netherlands
Van Dijk arrives at his third World Cup as captain of a Dutch side that has never lifted the trophy and will feel this is one of their best chances to do so. The Netherlands are in strong form heading into the tournament, and their squad, which also includes Liverpool teammates Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo, has the depth and quality to go deep in the competition.
Van Dijk’s importance to the Dutch defensive structure is total: he organises, he leads, and he sets the tempo from the back in a way that gives the entire team its foundation. At 34, this is almost certainly his final opportunity to win the only major honour missing from his career, and that motivation is unlikely to be lost on those around him.
Alexis Mac Allister: Argentina
Mac Allister heads to North America as a reigning world champion looking to do something only Brazil have managed: win consecutive World Cup titles. Argentina’s squad, which includes Messi, Lautaro Martinez, and Julian Alvarez, is formidable, and Mac Allister’s role in the midfield engine room has become increasingly central to how the team functions.
If the South Americans are to retain their crown, Mac Allister would become the first Liverpool player to lift the trophy since Xabi Alonso in 2010. The wider World Cup markets reflect Argentina as one of the genuine contenders, and Mac Allister’s influence on that squad is a significant part of why.
Florian Wirtz: Germany
Wirtz’s first season at Anfield has been underwhelming by the standards that accompanied his £116 million arrival from Bayer Leverkusen, but his international form tells a different story. Under Julian Nagelsmann, he remains the creative heartbeat of the German national team, and the World Cup represents the ideal platform for him to remind the world of the player Liverpool broke their transfer record to sign.
Germany are in Group E alongside Curacao, Ivory Coast, and Ecuador, a draw that should allow them to build momentum before the knockout rounds. If Wirtz arrives at the tournament in the form of his career, he will be among the candidates for the Golden Ball.
Mohamed Salah: Egypt
Salah will depart Liverpool at the end of the season after nine years at Anfield, but he heads to the World Cup with a point to prove. Egypt have never progressed beyond the group stage at a World Cup, and the 33-year-old, captaining his nation for what is likely his final appearance at the tournament, will be determined to change that.
His individual quality remains exceptional, and his motivation could not be higher: a deep run with Egypt would be the perfect farewell to a career that has already produced almost everything the club game has to offer. Few players at this tournament will carry the weight of a nation’s hopes more completely than Salah carries Egypt’s.
Alisson: Brazil
Brazil’s wait for a World Cup title stretches back to 2002, and the pressure on this squad to end that drought is immense. Alisson, heading into his third World Cup as Brazil’s undisputed number one, provides the kind of reassurance between the posts that their attacking talent demands.
His shot-stopping, his distribution, and his composure in the biggest moments have made him one of the finest goalkeepers of his generation, and Brazil’s chances of going all the way are significantly enhanced by having him as their last line of defence. If the five-time champions are to add a sixth star, Alisson will be a central figure in why.
A tournament full of Liverpool quality
Beyond the players covered above, Andy Robertson will captain Scotland at their first World Cup since 1998, Ibrahima Konate forms part of a formidable France defensive unit, and Alexander Isak heads to the tournament with Sweden looking to make an impression.
With the group stage getting underway on 11 June, for those looking to bet on England vs Croatia, this is already attracting attention as one of the standout early fixtures in Group L, but for Liverpool supporters will have plenty of other reasons to stay glued to their screens throughout the tournament. Rarely has a single club contributed so many players with a genuine chance of lifting the trophy.
