Man Utd Players' Records in the World Cup Historically

[JeffFromHK]

As the world cup is ongoing, it may be a good time to take a look at how our players did in the World Cup historically for comparison and record purposes

* Players loaned out by Man Utd are excluded

(World cups before 1950 - no Man Utd players participated)

World Cup 1950:
- 1 team out of 13 teams have Man Utd players in it: England (eliminated in group stage)
- 2 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Aston, Cockburn (England)
- 0 goals scored by Man Utd Players

World Cup 1954:
- 1 team out of 16 teams have Man Utd players in it: England (eliminated in quarter final)
- 2 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Byrne, Taylor (England)
- 0 goals scored by Man Utd Players

World Cup 1958:
- 3 teams out of 16 teams have Man Utd players in it: England (eliminated in group stage), Wales (eliminated in quarter final), Northern Ireland (eliminated in quarter final)
- 3 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Gregg (Northern Ireland), Websters (wales), Charlton (England)
- 0 goals scored by Man Utd Players

World Cup 1962:
- 1 team out of 16 teams have Man Utd players in it: England (eliminated in quarter final)
- 1 Man Utd player in world cup squads: Charlton (England)
- 1 goal scored by Man Utd Players: Charlton x1 [first world cup goal scored by Man Utd Players]

World Cup 1966:
- 1 team out of 16 teams have Man Utd players in it: England (Champions) [first time Man Utd Players appearing in world cup semi, final, and winning the world cup]
- 3 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Charlton, Connelly, Stiles (England)
- 3 goals scored by Man Utd Players : Charlton x3 [first time Man Utd player scoring multiple goals in the world cup and scoring in semi final]

World Cup 1970:
- 1 team out of 16 teams have Man Utd players in it: England (eliminated in quarter final)
- 3 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Charlton, Stepney, Stiles (England)
- 0 goals scored by Man Utd Players

World Cup 1974:
- 1 team out of 16 teams have Man Utd players in it: Scotland (eliminated in group stage)
- 3 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Holton, Buchan, Morgan (Scotland)
- 0 goals scored by Man Utd Players

World Cup 1978:
- 1 team out of 16 teams have Man Utd players in it: Scotland (eliminated in group stage)
- 4 Man Utd players in world cup squads: McQueen, Jordan, Buchan, Macari (Scotland)
- 1 goals scored by Man Utd Players: Jordan x 1 [first time a non-Charlton Man Utd player scoring in the world cup ]

World Cup 1982:
- 2 teams out of 24 teams have Man Utd players in it: England (eliminated in second group stage, i.e. top 12), Northern Ireland (eliminated in second group stage, aka top 12)
- 4 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Robson, Coppell, Wilkins (England), Whiteside (Northern Ireland - then the youngest player to ever feature in the World cup, at 17 years 41 days)
- 2 goals scored by Man Utd Players; Robson x 2

World Cup 1986:
- 4 teams out of 24 teams have Man Utd players in it: England (eliminated in QF), Scotland (eliminated in group stage), Northern Ireland (eliminated in group stage), Denmark (eliminated in round of 16 - first time Man Utd player representing a non-UK country)
- 7 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Robson, Bailey (England), Whiteside (Northern Ireland), Sivebæk, Olsen (denmark), Strachan, Albiston (Scotland)
- 5 goals scored by Man Utd Players: 3 x Olsen, 1 x Whiteside, 1x Strachan [first time multiple Man Utd players scoring in a single tournament; most goals scored by Man Utd players in a single tournament until 2014]

World Cup 1990:
- 2 teams out of 24 teams have Man Utd players in it: England (eliminated in round of 16), Scotland (eliminated in group stage)
- 3 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Robson, Webb (England), Leighton (Scotland)
- 0 goals scored by Man Utd Players

World Cup 1994:
- 1 team out of 24 teams have Man Utd players in it: Ireland (eliminated in round of 16)
- 2 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Irwin, Keane (Ireland)
- 0 goals scored by Man Utd Players

World Cup 1998:
- 3 team out of 32 teams have Man Utd players in it: Norway (eliminated in round of 16), England (eliminated in round of 16), Denmark (eliminated in quarter final),
- 8 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Johnsen, Berg, Solskjaer (Norway), Schmeichel (Denmark), Scholes, Beckham, Sheringham, Neville (England)
- 2 goals scored by Man Utd Players: Scholes x1, Beckham x1

World Cup 2002:
- 6 team out of 32 teams have Man Utd players in it: France (eliminated in group stage), Urugary (eliminated in group stage), South Africa (eliminated in group stage), Argentina (eliminated in group stage), Ireland (eliminated in round of 16), England (Eliminated in QF)
- 10 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Barthez, Silvestre (France), Forlan (Urugary), Fortune (South Africa), Veron (Argentina), Keane (Ireland, but busted up), Beckham, Scholes, Butt, Brown (England)
- 3 goals scored by Man Utd Players: Forlan x1, Fortune x1, Beckham x1

World Cup 2006:
- 8 team out of 32 teams have Man Utd players in it: Serbia (eliminated in group stage), South Korea (eliminated in group stage), USA (eliminated in group stage), Netherlands (eliminated in round of 16), Argentina (eliminated in QF), England (eliminated in QF), Portugal (Semi-Finalist), France (Finalist)
- 12 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Saha, Silvestre (France), Vidic (serbia), Park (South Korea), Howard (USA), Heinze (Argentina), Ronaldo (Portugal - the only time Ronaldo played a World Cup as a Man Utd player), Van Der Sar, Van Nistelrooy (Netherlands), Neville, Ferdinand, Rooney (England)
- 3 goals scored by Man Utd Players: Park x1, Ronaldo x1, Van Nistelrooy x1

World Cup 2010:
- 4 team out of 32 teams have Man Utd players in it: Serbia (eliminated in group stage), France (eliminated in group stage), South Korea (eliminated in round of 16), England (eliminated in round of 16)
- 5 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Park (South Korea), Rooney, Carrick (England), Vidic (Serbia), Evra (France)
- 1 goal scored by Man Utd Players: Park x1

World Cup 2014 [the world cup most involved in by Man Utd Players thus far]:
- 9 team out of 32 teams have Man Utd players in it: Mexico (eliminated in round of 16), Spain (eliminated in group stage), Japan (eliminated in round of 16), Uruguay (eliminated in round of 16), England (eliminated in group stage), Ecuador (eliminated in group stage), France (eliminated in QF), Belgium (eliminated in QF), Netherlands (3rd)
- 14 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Hernandez (Mexico), Van Persie (Netherlands), De Gea, Mata (Spain), Kagawa (Japan), Rooney, Welbeck, Smalling, Jones (England), Valencia (Ecuador), Evra (France), Varela (Uruguay), Felliani, Januzaj (Belgium)
- 8 goals scored by Man Utd Players: Van Persie x 4, Hernandez x 1, Mata x 1, Rooney x 1, Felliani x1

World Cup 2018:
- 7 team out of 32 teams have Man Utd players in it: Serbia (eliminated in group stage), Spain (eliminated in round of 16), Argentina (eliminated in round of 16), Sweden (eliminated in QF), England (4th) Belgium (3rd) , France (Winners - First time a Man Utd player winning the World Cup since 1966) [first time 3 teams out of 4 semi-finalist featured Man Utd players]
- 11 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Matic (Serbia), De Gea (Spain), Rojo (Argentina), Lindelof (Sweden), Lingard, Jones, Young, Rasford (England), Felliani, Lukaku (Belgium), Pogba (France)
- 8 goal scored by Man Utd Players: Lukaku x 4, Rojo x 1, Lingard, x 1, Pogba x1 (first time Man Utd player scoring in the final), Fellaini x1

If you spot any mistakes or missing outs, please let me know

 

[PSV]

2009-10 we're very unlucky not to win more than 1 trophy and 10 PL teams sent at least as many players as us.

2013-14 we deliver our worst EPL season ever at that stage and noone sends more players than us.

 

[JeffFromHK]

2009-10 we're very unlucky not to win more than 1 trophy and 10 PL teams sent at least as many players as us.

2013-14 we deliver our worst EPL season ever at that stage and noone sends more players than us.

yes, it is interesting that in our prime years, Man Utd players were not very involved in World Cups (even if they did, teams with man utd players got eliminated quickly), but in recent world cups, we are filled with internationals from strong nations, our players get to SF and even Final in world cup, but we struggle in club competitions

For example, now we have internationals from France, England, Brazil, Argentina, Netherlands, Portugal, many of whom are key players of their own countries, but we are still sitting at 5th in the league

Our key players in 2010 and their role in world cup:
VDS - retired from international football
Rafeal - failed to get into Brazil national team
Vidic - Serbian international (eliminated in group stage)
Ferdinand - injured
Evra - French (eliminated in group stage)
Evans - Northern Ireland failed to qualify
Brown - not selected for world cup

Nani - injured
Fletcher - Scotland failed to qualify
Carrick - backup of England
Giggs - Wales failed to qualify & retired from international football
Scholes - retired from international football
Valencia - Ecuador failed to qualify

Berbatov - Bulgaria failed to qualify
Rooney - played world cup injured

of those 15 players, 3 retired from international football, 4 had their teams failed to qualify, 2 were not selected by their own nations, 2 injured. Only 4 players were in the squads of World Cup 2010, with 2 of them eliminated at group stage, 1 played injured (eliminated at round of 16 anyway), and 1 being a backup. Team chemisty matters.

 

[The Corinthian]

@JeffFromHK - thanks for this, really interesting thread.

I'm not really a fan of any international team - I generally just want any Man Utd players to do well.

With that being said...really encouraging to see our players having a good world cup so far.

Luke Shaw - I think he has 2 assists so far?
Harry Maguire - he's doing fine!
Marcus Rashford - 1 goal (I think with his first touch), and only limited minutes, but great to see he's had an impact.
Bruno Fernandes - 2 goals and 2 assists.
Casemiro - stunner to win the group for Brazil.
Fred - he's been decent for Brazil so far.
Antony - similar to Marcus in that Brazil start with Raphinha (not sure why), but he's looked unpredictable in the minutes he's had.
Lisandro Martinez - Saudi scored when he wasn't playing, so since he's been on he's kept a clean sheet.
Facundo Pellestri - he's been a brightish presence for a underperforming Uruguay team.

That's off the top of my head - I think Eriksen hasn't had a good WC so far, neither has Hannibal in his limited minutes. Dalot, Malacia haven't had any minutes so far either.

 

[JeffFromHK]

@JeffFromHK - thanks for this, really interesting thread.

I'm not really a fan of any international team - I generally just want any Man Utd players to do well.

With that being said...really encouraging to see our players having a good world cup so far.

Luke Shaw - I think he has 2 assists so far?
Harry Maguire - he's doing fine!
Marcus Rashford - 1 goal (I think with his first touch), and only limited minutes, but great to see he's had an impact.
Bruno Fernandes - 2 goals and 2 assists.
Casemiro - stunner to win the group for Brazil.
Fred - he's been decent for Brazil so far.
Antony - similar to Marcus in that Brazil start with Raphinha (not sure why), but he's looked unpredictable in the minutes he's had.
Lisandro Martinez - Saudi scored when he wasn't playing, so since he's been on he's kept a clean sheet.
Facundo Pellestri - he's been a brightish presence for a underperforming Uruguay team.

That's off the top of my head - I think Eriksen hasn't had a good WC so far, neither has Hannibal in his limited minutes. Dalot, Malacia haven't had any minutes so far either.

same here I don't support a particular country as a neutral, just want our players do well.
Was glad Bruno and Casemiro scoring last night.

 

[Uniquim]

- 3 goals scored by Man Utd Players : Charlton x3 [first time Man Utd player scoring multiple goals in the world cup and scoring in semi final]

I suspect the Opta admin have a Redcafe user

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[BorisManUtd]

Some good stats in 2014 and 2018 but even though it's still early stages of this World Cup it already looks better than then. Bruno 2 goals and 2 assists, Rashford 3 goals, Shaw and Maguire with assists, Casemiro with a goal... Good to see. Pogba being only United player to win WC since Charlton is an interesting fact as well, lets hope there's another one now with 1 of Brazil/Argentina/England/Portugal/Netherlands winning the thing.

 

[Herculean]

Excellent thread @JeffFromHK
Interesting progression showing the “internationalization” of English football and United!
During tours of Old Trafford the guide always points out the diversity! Great to see all of those international flags flying around the stadium. The tour guide always points out the flags on the roof.

 

[BazzaBear]

I think I read somewhere that United are the team with players with the most goal contributions thus far in the world cup. Was PSG until the latest England game.

Disclaimer: No idea if it's genuinely true!

 

[JeffFromHK]

Excellent thread @JeffFromHK
Interesting progression showing the “internationalization” of English football and United!
During tours of Old Trafford the guide always points out the diversity! Great to see all of those international flags flying around the stadium. The tour guide always points out the flags on the roof.

my pleasure

“internationalization” of English football and United helps us to recruit more foreign fans and hopefully can help us recruit future GOAT candidates to play for us. I am quite envious that Real Madrid and Barcelona have international all-time best players like Cruyff, Maradona, R9, Zidane, Figo, Romario, Puskas, Di Stefano, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Messi etc playing for them. To the contrary, Holy Trinity aside, CR7 is the only one of similar status playing for us.

 

[JeffFromHK]

I think I read somewhere that United are the team with players with the most goal contributions thus far in the world cup. Was PSG until the latest England game.

Disclaimer: No idea if it's genuinely true!

correct me if I am wrong, but seems Barca got more:
Rashford - 3 goals
Bruno - 2 goals 2 assists
Casemiro - 1 goal
Shaw - 1 assist
Maguire - 1 assist

Totally 10 goal involvements

Ferran Torres - 2 goals
Gavi - 1 goal 1 assist
Alba - 2 assists
Lewandowski - 1 goal
Christensen - 1 goal
FDJ - 1 goal 1 assist
Dembele - 1 assist

Totally 11 goal involvements

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[TheGame]

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[norm87cro]

This is a bit of a silly thread. I guess Best, Giggs and Keane were all rubbish. Scholes decided not to play for England around 06 (when he could) as well (one of my favorite players but he was wrong to do that). So in conclusion Rashford (aldo a player i like) is better than all of them

 

[CallyRed]

This is a bit of a silly thread. I guess Best, Giggs and Keane were all rubbish. Scholes decided not to play for England around 06 (when he could) as well (one of my favorite players but he was wrong to do that). So in conclusion Rashford (aldo a player i like) is better than all of them

I don't think that's the purpose of this thread

 

[JeffFromHK]

This is a bit of a silly thread. I guess Best, Giggs and Keane were all rubbish. Scholes decided not to play for England around 06 (when he could) as well (one of my favorite players but he was wrong to do that). So in conclusion Rashford (aldo a player i like) is better than all of them

I don't think anyone would reasonably comprehend my thread this way.

 

[golden_blunder]

1958 Harry Gregg was voted best GK in the world as a result of his World Cup exploits

 

[BorisManUtd]

With England winning that's 6 United players in quarter-finals already, with another 5 if Brazil and Portugal go through (I'm not counting Telles). Good chances we'll have a World Cup winner in our squad in 2 weeks, only 2nd time since 1966 (Pogba with France 2018). Obviously only talking about WC winners who played at United at the time of winning the thing.

 

[The Corinthian]

This is a bit of a silly thread. I guess Best, Giggs and Keane were all rubbish. Scholes decided not to play for England around 06 (when he could) as well (one of my favorite players but he was wrong to do that). So in conclusion Rashford (aldo a player i like) is better than all of them

This is a bit of a silly post.

 

[JeffFromHK]

yes, it is interesting that in our prime years, Man Utd players were not very involved in World Cups (even if they did, teams with man utd players got eliminated quickly), but in recent world cups, we are filled with internationals from strong nations, our players get to SF and even Final in world cup, but we struggle in club competitions

For example, now we have internationals from France, England, Brazil, Argentina, Netherlands, Portugal, many of whom are key players of their own countries, but we are still sitting at 5th in the league

Our key players in 2010 and their role in world cup:
VDS - retired from international football
Rafeal - failed to get into Brazil national team
Vidic - Serbian international (eliminated in group stage)
Ferdinand - injured
Evra - French (eliminated in group stage)
Evans - Northern Ireland failed to qualify
Brown - not selected for world cup

Nani - injured
Fletcher - Scotland failed to qualify
Carrick - backup of England
Giggs - Wales failed to qualify & retired from international football
Scholes - retired from international football
Valencia - Ecuador failed to qualify

Berbatov - Bulgaria failed to qualify
Rooney - played world cup injured

of those 15 players, 3 retired from international football, 4 had their teams failed to qualify, 2 were not selected by their own nations, 2 injured. Only 4 players were in the squads of World Cup 2010, with 2 of them eliminated at group stage, 1 played injured (eliminated at round of 16 anyway), and 1 being a backup. Team chemisty matters.

It is also interesting to see that Jordan Henderson just registered Liverpool players' first goal contribution this world cup.

It makes sense since Liverpool players are much less involved in this world cup compared with other Big 6 teams:

Becker - Starting Brazilian GK - made 0 saves so far
Arnold - England back up
VVD - Netherlands Starting CB (average performance so far)
Matip - refused to go to the World Cup
Robertson - failed to qualify
Thiago - not called up by Spain
Fabinho - Brazil back up
Henderson - England back up
Salah - failed to qualify
Firmino - not called up by Brazil
Jota - injured
Nunez - Uruguary starting striker but had a stinker

Diaz - failed to qualify
Konate - France 4th CB
Elliot - not called up by England
Joe Gomez - not called up by England
Carvalho - not called up by Portugal

only 3 of the Liverpool's team are starters of their nations in this world cup, but it does not mean Liverpool isn't a top team. It's quite similar to Man Utd players in 2010 world cup.

 

[crossy1686]

Worth noting at this point, with the teams left in the competition, unless Morocco or Croatia win it, a Manchester United player will come home with the World Cup this month.

 

[Gator Nate]

World Cup 2018:
- 7 team out of 32 teams have Man Utd players in it: Serbia (eliminated in group stage), Spain (eliminated in round of 16), Argentina (eliminated in round of 16), Sweden (eliminated in QF), England (4th) Belgium (3rd) , France (Winners - First time a Man Utd player winning the World Cup since 1966) [first time 3 teams out of 4 semi-finalist featured Man Utd players]
- 11 Man Utd players in world cup squads: Matic (Serbia), De Gea (Spain), Rojo (Argentina), Lindelof (Sweden), Lingard, Jones, Young, Rasford (England), Felliani, Lukaku (Belgium), Pogba (France)
- 8 goal scored by Man Utd Players: Lukaku x 4, Rojo x 1, Lingard, x 1, Pogba x1 (first time Man Utd player scoring in the final), Fellaini x1

If you spot any mistakes or missing outs, please let me know

Great thread!

Crazy thing about that list of players is that, four years on, only Rashford and Lukaku of those 11 played in this edition of the WC. Granted, Pogba would have if not injured, but still. And Lukaku and Pogba aren't even with us any more.

And yet we had 16 players in the WC this year, and 14 have made the final eight and almost all of them made significant contributions to their teams' performances.