World Cup Draw: Who are Liverpool Players Facing? (Plus a Poll)

First of all, the groups:

Group A

• Qatar
• Ecuador
• Netherlands
• Senegal

Group B

• England
• USA
• Iran
• Scotland/Wales/Ukraine

Group C

• Argentina
• Saudi Arabia
• Mexico
• Poland

Group D

• France
• Denmark
• Tunisia
• UAE/Peru/Australia

Group E

• Spain
• Germany
• Japan
• Costa Rica/New Zealand

Group F

• Belgium
• Canada
• Morocco
• Croatia

Group G

• Brazil
• Serbia
• Switzerland
• Cameroon

Group H

• Portugal
• Ghana
• Uruguay
• South Korea

As it stands, Liverpool have as many as 16 internationals who could go to the World Cup:

In Group A, AFCON winner Sadio Mané’s Senegal faces Virgil Van Dijk’s Dutch side.

Group B is trickier, as the vagaries of England call-ups make the squad uncertain: Trent Alexander-Arnold was called up to last week’s friendlies, but has been ignored plenty of times in the past, so there’s no guarantee he’ll be included in the World Cup squad. Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson is likely to receive a call-up, however, and Joe Gomez has in the past — though his lack of game time lately surely limits his chances. Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones have both featured for England’s youth set up, and have an outside chance of a senior call-up, though this would be quite a coup given England’s squad depth at present.

Should Scotland qualify, Andrew Robertson will be in action, repeating the Scotland v England action of the last Euros (though he’ll hope with a better outcome). Should Wales make it through, Neco Williams will have a chance to shine on the global stage, and the youngster, currently on loan to Fulham, has been excellent for his country in recent times.

Liverpool do not have any internationals in Group C.

In Group D, Ibrahima Konaté will hope for a French call-up; he has played throughout the French youth set-up, and will hope his playing time with Liverpool might convince Didier Deschamps to take a chance on him.

In Group E — arguably this year’s “group of death” — Japan’s Taki Minamino will take on Spain (where Thiago could feature, having been included in the 24-man squad for the 2020 Euros).

Divock Origi will look to get some minutes for Belgium in Group F, though his limited minutes for Liverpool this season might hurt him (despite the many incredible goals he’s managed despite these limitations).

In Group G, Roberto Firmino, Fabinho, and Alisson look to feature for Brazil, though Firmino has struggled to get in the side of late. The Brazilian contingent will face Joël Matip’s Cameroon, though the defender retired from international duty some time ago.

Finally, Diogo Jota’s Portugal will be in action in Group H.

In all, Liverpool have potentially 16 players on international duty next November (though 14 feels most likely) — obviously not accounting for any business the club does over the summer.

While these Reds are in action, the likes of Mohamed Salah, Luis Díaz, Naby Keïta, Kostas Tsimikas, and Caoimhin Kelleher will miss out on the competition as their sides failed to qualify.

Who do you think likely to go the farthest in the competition?

The 2022 World Cup will kick off on November 21st, and the final will take place on December 18th — making for quite the interesting 2022/23 Premier League season. Note also that there’s Nations League action (UEFA and CONCACAF) in June, in case you were worried there would be a period without football.