At the 2018 World Cup, eight Liverpool players represented their national team. Among those was Dejan Lovren. Early in the first match against Nigeria, Lovren demonstrated why he deserves a spot in the side as he successfully flattened several players making crucial blocks. Jordan Henderson also experienced success with England. While these players for the Reds had notable performances, others weren’t quite as successful.
Croatia
Playing for Croatia, who went all the way to the final, Dejan Lovren was a key player throughout the tournament. Lovren believes that his performances prove he is one of the world’s best defenders as he helped his team seek their first ever World Cup. Despite a poor performance against England’s Harry Kane last October and a 4-1 defeat, this didn’t seem to have any bearing as the two met up against in the semi-finals. Lovren actually looked forward to a second chance to spar with Kane as both teams set their sights on a victory to get their national teams to the final. This match-up also saw Lovren play against his Liverpool team mate, Jordan Henderson. In the final game against France, Lovren appeared to meet his match being run ragged all over the pitch. Croatia were simply unable to contain the triple threat of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba. Croatia were one of the stand-out performers of the World Cup, something that no one saw coming, however, with an aging team, it is unlikely they will repeat the feat in four years’ time.
Belgium
Belgium emerged from the World Cup with their best ever finish history, 3rd place. Their most impressive moment was their defeat of favourite, Brazil. By changing up their strategy, the Belgians were able to stun the Brazilians resulting in a victory. The Belgian squad included Liverpool footballer, Simon Mignolet. Mignolet was disappointed and readily verbalized this when he was made understudy in the goalkeeper position to Thibaut Courtois. Mignolet was completely left out of the game against England. In that match, Belgium coach Roberto Martinez made a total of nine player changes but kept Courtois at goalkeeper for the entire game. With a very talented bench, it was difficult to make use of everyone. Mignolet may have further disappointment ahead, as the Reds have completed the record signing of Alisson. Further decreasing his chances of him play a part this season. Courtois proved why he was first choice, as he thwarted several attacks in the game against Brazil. While Belgium ended up going down to France, they were able to win the third-place spot against England, 2-1, with both Eden Hazard and Thomas Meunier scoring the two goals.
England
A fourth place finish is what England earned in the end. While the team may be disappointed with that, it has been 28 years since the squad came even close to winning a cup. Liverpool player Jordan Henderson played for his nation and earned a great deal of praise for his role as anchorman answering any questions that he should be made started over Eric Dier. While at times underrated, Henderson had a 30-match unbeaten run with England. In the match against Sweden, Henderson played a vital role in stopping the Swede’s building any pressure.
Henderson was a doubt for the semi-final, but he played, despite not being fully-fit. Croatia eventually realized the limits of Henderson’s coverage on the pitch and were able to switch the ball keeping it from Henderson. In extra time, the tired Henderson was relieved by Dier. Of course, the Three Lions were unable to contain the power of Luka Modric, one of the players of the tournament, as well as Ivan Rakitic. In the third place match with Belgium, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold made his World Cup debut, having been benched for the majority of the event. At 19 years old, Alexander-Arnold was just the fourth teenager in history to make a World Cup start for England.
Brazil
Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino played for his native Brazil’s national team. While the team was one of the favourites to win the World Cup, in the end they failed to meet expectations. Initially, Firmino was benched for the match against Switzerland, Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus was the preferred choice. He later came off the bench with 12 minutes left in the match. Again he came off the bench in the match with Mexico to net a second goal for his nation’s squad and also earned an assist. After Firmino’s strong season with Liverpool, many questioned why he wasn’t given the chance to start. As Brazil moved on in the competition, many believed Firmino should be moved to the top spot, citing his goal against Mexico. However, he was against relegated to the bench for the quarter final. By the second half, Brazil were 2-0 down, thanks to goals from De Bruyne and Fernandino. The Liverpool forward was then brought on to hopefully again save the day. However, it seemed a little too late as the Brazil’s World Cup quest came to a halt.
