The likes of Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro, Antony, Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire will all be hoping to return to Manchester United as World Cup winners this December.
Unsurprisingly for one of the biggest clubs in world football, Erik ten Hag’s squad is full of international superstars that will be hoping to light up Qatar 2022.
Plenty of World Cup-winning legends have won United’s famous shirt, from Fabian Barthez to Juan Mata to Bastian Schweinsteiger in the Premier League era.
But – surprisingly enough – in the storied history of Manchester United, only four players have ever won the World Cup whilst representing the club…
Bobby Charlton
One of the most legendary figures in the history of Manchester United, Charlton miraculously survived the Munich air disaster and went on to enjoy a wonderfully successful career for club and country afterwards.
The midfielder made over 750 appearances for United and over 100 for England, peaking in the mid-60s for both – he won the First Division title with United in 1964-65 and 1966-67 and the European Cup in 1967-68.
Charlton also, of course, lifted the World Cup in 1966, featuring alongside his brother Jack, Geoff Hurst, and captain Bobby Moore as England defeated Germany 4-2 in the Wembley final.
Nobby Stiles
Charlton wasn’t the only United player selected by Alf Ramsey to take on Germany in the 1966 final. The famously tough-tackling Stiles, renowned as one of the hardest players in English football history, featured deeper in midfield.
The Manchester-born warrior is another of United’s all-time greats, having been a key part of the side for over a decade. He represented the club between 1960 and 1971, a period in which the Red Devils won two league titles, the FA Cup and European Cup.
Just as he had two years prior with the Three Lions, Stiles slotted in alongside Charlton in midfield as United won the European Cup for the first time in 1968. They beat Benfica 4-1 at Wembley in the final.
🇾🇪 Just read a book about Bobby , where he said “when I got the ball from Nobby I knew I had to do something good with it , because he had worked so hard to get it in the first place ”
what sentiment ❤️
Nobby Stiles and Bobby Charlton 🇾🇪 pic.twitter.com/l8xEPVCoiD— YesterdaysStars (@YesterdaysStars) September 7, 2022
John Connelly
A heroic figure in the history of Lancashire football, Connelly was born and died in the county and represented Burnley, United, Blackburn and Bury, scoring 180 league goals in a career that stretched from 1956 to 1973.
The winger won the league with Burnley (1959-60) and United (1964-65) and was part of the England squad in 1966. He started the opening match of the tournament, a 0-0 draw against Uruguay, but didn’t feature beyond that.
Eventually, in 2009, he was awarded a winner’s medal in a ceremony at Downing Street, alongside Peter Bonetti, Ron Springett, Jimmy Armfield, Gerry Byrne, Ron Flowers, Norman Hunter, Terry Paine, Ian Callaghan, George Eastham and Jimmy Greaves.
Paul Pogba
In 2018, Pogba became the first Manchester United player to lift the World Cup since 1966.
The club’s all-time record signing had won the League Cup and Europa League under Jose Mourinho during his debut season at Old Trafford, while his second season saw United finish runners-up in the Premier League and FA Cup.
The Frenchman’s last game for United before heading off to the World Cup was a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in the FA Cup final, but a series of excellent performances in Russia ensured that Les Bleus wouldn’t be suffering the same disappointment that summer.
Pogba helped form a wonderfully-balanced midfield trio with Blaise Matuidi and N’Golo Kante and scored a peach of a goal in the final at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium as France beat Croatia 4-2.
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