According to research compiled by Betway, Bayern Munich has the second-most World Cup winners in history.
The World Cup has had many winners over the course of its history, with countless elite players managing to lift the trophy. Each of these players has plied their trade at various clubs around the world to represent their national teams, attempting to earn international football’s greatest prize. But which football clubs can boast the most World Cup-winning players? You may be aware of which national teams have
won the tournament the most, but what domestic teams did their players represent at the time?
1) Juventus
As the club with the most World Cup champions, Juventus tops the rankings with 27 of its players accomplishing the feat so far. Italy’s victory in 1934 stands out as a year that produced many of Juventus’ winners, with nine players out of Italy’s squad playing for the Old Lady. Following this, Juventus had no winners for another 48 years. This period was the same time it took for the Italian national team to lift the trophy again, too, showing their reliance on home-grown talent.
However, the wait for nearly half a century then produced their next most successful year. The 1982 World Cup saw Juventus manage to have six players in the winning Italian squad, featuring legends such as the 40-year-old Dino Zoff in goal and clinical Paolo Rossi up front.
Interestingly, it wasn’t until the 1998 tournament that Juventus had any non-Italian World Cup winners. France’s victory before the turn of the century saw Didier Deschamps and Zinedine Zidane become the first foreign winners of the competition for the Old Lady. The 2018 and 2022 tournaments also saw more overseas players lift the trophy, totalling five in Juventus’ history.
2) Bayern Munich
Coming in a close second place is the German juggernaut, Bayern Munich. 24 of their players have tasted victory at the World Cup and, like Juventus, they’ve also managed to have winners across seven separate campaigns.
The two years that saw the most Bayern players win the tournament were in 1974 and 2014. Unsurprisingly, West Germany and Germany won in these years, and both campaigns involved seven of Bayern’s players.
Stars like the legendary defender Franz Beckenbauer and prolific striker Gerd Müller spearheaded the 1974 victory, with world-class keeper Manuel Neuer and midfield maestro Bastian Schweinsteiger leading the triumph in 2014, as well as club captain at the time, Philipp Lahm.
The 1990 campaign also saw a good number of players win the World Cup. West Germany became champions in this tournament too, with their squad containing six Bayern Munich players.
It wasn’t until the 1994 World Cup that Bayern saw their first overseas player win the tournament. After Brazil won their fourth tournament, 29-year-old right-back Jorginho made history for the German giants and became the first foreign player to accomplish this achievement.
With Germany regularly featuring among the World Cup betting favourites at every tournament, it would be no surprise to see Bayern – a constant source of talent for the national team – topping this list in the future.
3) Internazionale (Inter Milan)
Completing the top three teams, Inter Milan is the final club with more than 20 World Cup-winning players. Throughout the history of the tournament, they’ve had 21 players lift the trophy, with their winners being largely spread out across different campaigns. Inter have had players win the tournament in eight separate World Cups – the second most out of all teams.
The 1938 and 1982 tournaments both had five Inter Milan players become champions, with the ‘34 campaign producing four. Being an Italian club, it’s no surprise that in each of these three years Italy was victorious.
The Nerazzurri were home to several important players in these campaigns, including the likes of striker Alessandro Altobelli in 1982. He managed to score the all-important third goal in the final for Italy, sealing the win over West Germany.
Germany’s victory in 1990 signified the first year that Inter Milan had foreign players win the World Cup. The Italian team helped to provide a solid foundation for Germany’s triumph, providing captain and legendary midfielder Lothar Matthäus, striker Jürgen Klinsmann, and even the winning goalscorer in the final, Andreas Brehme.
Clubs with the most World Cup runners-up
Though there have been clubs with many successful players at the World Cup, equally many teams have seen their footballers narrowly miss out, too. Though runners-up have lost the World Cup, they still had to play an amazing tournament to get there. This means that each team here still had elite players in their teams, but they just fell short of success instead.
Again, Bayern Munich features highly, topping the list this time around with 20 runners-up. These players mostly come from matches where West Germany and Germany lost in the final, such as in 1966 (two), 1982 (three), 1986 (four), and 2002 (four).
Serie A outfits AC Milan and Inter come closely behind with 18 and 16 runners-up respectively. Most of Milan’s players come from Italy’s World Cup final defeats in 1970 (three) and 1994 (seven), which is a somewhat similar case for Inter. The Nerazzurri had a combined seven players on the losing side in Italy’s 1970 (six) and 1994 (one) defeats but showed an overall trend of featuring more internationals in their teams than their same city rivals.
Finally, because of the Netherlands’ back-to-back losses in the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, alongside their 2010 loss to Spain, Ajax have also had their fair share of runners-up. With six players in the 1974 tournament and three apiece in 1978 and 2010, the Dutch club have had 12 players fall short of international glory.
If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…
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