The World Cup is finally in full swing, with 8 current Liverpool players and a host of former players all spread across North America to represent their home nations on football’s biggest stage (pitch?).
Saturday saw Group C in action, with Brazil playing Morocco earlier in the day before Haiti and Scotland clashed later in the evening.
After much debate over the Brazilian squad and their roster, Alisson Becker was named to start for their opening match of the tournament. Depending on which side you
ask, the veteran goalkeeper has either spent too much time focusing on his club career, or not enough. That matter may have been put to bed at least for now, after Alisson recently admitted to a Brazilian publication that he deliberately missed Liverpool matches to make sure he was fully fit for the World Cup.
That choice paid off for him though as he was rewarded with the starting position over Ederson and helped hold an impressive Moroccan side to only a draw after they opened the scoring. He made two saves for the whole match and only allowed the one, so as decent a day as can be asked when looking at the rest of the Brazilian squad this year.
Later in the day, it was the big moment for now departed (yes that still hurt to type) Andy Robertson and Scotland, returning to the tournament after 28 years. Robertson, captain of the squad, led the Scots out to face an aggressive Haitian side. John McGinn scored the only goal of the match, but Robbo showed exactly what he’s made of in Boston, even finding the loophole around the new throw-in rule introduced this year. He ended the match with 68 touches, 3 duels won, and 4 defensive interventions (what a nice way to say tackles), and will be looking forward to their own clash with Morocco next week.
Sunday’s matches are still ongoing as of writing this piece, but Germany faced Curacao for Group E, with Florian Wirtz assisting the opening goal and taking three shots throughout their 7-1 win to open up their group.
There is also Netherlands vs Japan later on Sunday, and three of our Dutch players are all getting the start in Arlington, Texas – Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, and Ryan Gravenberch. Japan are still dealing with the loss of their own captain due to injury and unexpected retirement, after Wataru Endo had to pull himself out of the tournament and announce his retirement from international football. It was thought that he had healed enough from the injury he sustained back in February but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be. The Blue Samurai are already struggling with injuries to Takumi Minamino and Kaoru Mitoma, so it will be a rough competition for a team that many believe will go far.
And then, of course, there is Sweden. The last match of Sunday will likely see Alexander Isak leading the line when they face Tunisia in Guadalupe, Mexico to round off the Group F action. Isak looks to be regaining vital match fitness despite his fraught 2025-2026 season, and will hopefully make an impact for the Swedes in a way that he can bring back to Liverpool.
