The Players Who Have Won The World Cup While At Man Utd
There have only been 5 players who have ever lifted the coveted World Cup trophy with their nation, while they were playing for Manchester United.
That number is surprisingly very low, considering we’ve had some of the world’s best players over the years.
Perhaps England’s long World Cup trophy drought plays a big part, but even some of our best foreign players, like Cantona and Ronaldo for example, never won the trophy.
It’s maybe even more surprising that United have only ever had 12 World Cup winners, in total, play for the club (7 who won it before or after being at United).
Here’s a look at the 5 United players who have managed to win football’s biggest international prize:
Sir Bobby Charlton
Year Won: 1966
Won With: England
It’s only fitting to start with the legend that is Sir Bobby Charlton; One of our greatest ever players, and one of the few Englishmen to lift the World Cup trophy.
The first United players to taste World Cup success came in 1966, when Sir Alf Ramsey’s England side won the tournament.
Sir Bobby’s story of success is even more incredible when you consider it came 8 years after he survived the Munich Air Disaster.
He played a key role in England’s ‘66 success, with a few goals during the tournament, and 2 important goals in the semi-final against Portugal.
Nobby Stiles
Year Won: 1966
Won With: England
Another one of United and England’s heroes of 1966 is Manchester-born Nobby Stiles.
His World Cup success came midway through his 11 years at United, and the defensive midfielder was an important part of both Sir Matt Bubsy and Sir Alf Ramsey’s teams.
Stiles was a mainstay of the England team during the tournament, and did a particularly good job of keeping the great Eusébio under control in the semi-final.
John Connelly
Year Won: 1966
Won With: England
Completing the trio of United players who won the 1966 World Cup is John Connelly.
He was a United player for a couple of seasons, and won the World Cup just before his move to Blackburn Rovers.
Although he featured for England in the opening game of the tournament against Uruguay, Sir Alf Ramsey changed the setup, and it ended up being Connelly’s only involvement; He was 1 of 4 England players to feature in the tournament, but not in the final.
He didn’t actually receive his winners’ medal until 2009; Initially, only the 11 players who played the final received a medal, until FIFA subsequently awarded medals to the rest of the squad many years later.
Paul Pogba
Year Won: 2018
Won With: France
After the three English winners from ‘66, we would have to wait a whole 52 years for another World Cup-winning Manchester United player.
Paul Pogba ended the drought when he won the 2018 Russia World Cup with France.
It’s fair to say that Paul Pogba enjoyed a more successful career internationally with France than he did at club level at United; He never seemed to be able to perform consistently at a top level for United like he did for France.
He played a key role in the winning French side, and even scored one of the goals in the final.
Lisandro Martinez
Year Won: 2022
Won With: Argentina
Lisandro Martinez became the 5th United player to win the World Cup with his country, after he won it in 2022; It was the first time ever that Manchester United had a winner and back-to-back World Cups.
He joined United in the summer of 2022, and a few months later he won the World Cup in Qatar.
Martinez didn’t feature heavily for Argentina during the tournament, but he did make substitute appearances in the round of 16 and semi-final, while also starting the quarter-final. He was an unused sub in the final.