Liverpool Stars at World Cup 2026: Fixtures and Insights

The World Cup is stretching across a continent this time, spilling from the USA into Canada and Mexico, swollen to a 48–team behemoth. The group stage kicks off on Thursday, June 11, and Liverpool’s fingerprints are all over it.

Here is where the Reds’ stars will be when the tournament explodes into life.
(All kick-off times are BST.)

Alisson Becker (Brazil)

A third World Cup for Alisson, and this one begins with him carrying the weight of a footballing nation and a club’s pride.

The Liverpool goalkeeper is set to be the first Red in action at this edition, anchoring a Brazil side that still measures itself only in trophies. He is joined in Carlo Ancelotti’s 26-man squad by former Liverpool midfielder Fabinho, now of Al-Ittihad, as the five-time champions chase a return to the summit.

Brazil open Group C against 2022 semi-finalists Morocco, a fixture that will test their nerve and organisation from the first whistle. Then comes Haiti, a game they will be expected to control, before a final group clash with Scotland and their familiar captain, Andy Robertson.

Brazil’s fixtures (Group C)

• v Morocco – June 13, 11pm
• v Haiti – June 20, 1.30am
• v Scotland – June 24, 11pm

Wataru Endo (Japan)

In February, Wataru Endo left the pitch for Liverpool with a damaged foot and a cloud over his summer. Now he walks into a World Cup as captain of Japan.

The 33-year-old fought his way back to fitness in time to lead the Samurai Blue, and he made no secret of the grind it took. “It wasn't an easy way to recover from the injury but I believed in myself to make this happen and will keep working hard to get fit for the games,” he said after the squad announcement. That is not just a soundbite; it’s the story of his season.

His reward? A brutal Group F that throws him straight at four Liverpool teammates. Japan face the Netherlands first, then Tunisia, then Sweden. No easing in. No hiding place.

Endo knows the stage. He made four appearances at the last World Cup, when Japan stunned a group containing Spain and Germany before Croatia knocked them out on penalties in the Round of 16. This time, he arrives as the leader, not just the engine.

Japan’s fixtures (Group F)

• v Netherlands – June 14, 9pm
• v Tunisia – June 21, 5am
• v Sweden – June 26, 12am

Cody Gakpo, Ryan Gravenberch, Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands)

Three Dutchmen, three very different World Cup stories.

Virgil van Dijk, the organiser and figurehead. Cody Gakpo, the forward who lit up the last tournament and turned that form into a move to Anfield. Ryan Gravenberch, the newcomer to this stage, stepping into his first World Cup with expectations already swirling.

In Qatar, Van Dijk and Gakpo drove the Oranje to the quarter-finals, where they fell in a penalty shootout to eventual champions Argentina. Gakpo scored in all three group games, then a PSV Eindhoven player on the brink of a career-defining transfer. He arrives this time as a Liverpool attacker, but the stakes are no lower.

The Netherlands start against Endo’s Japan, a meeting of captains and club colleagues under very different flags. Then comes Sweden, then Tunisia, in a group that looks balanced but unforgiving.

Netherlands’ fixtures (Group F)

• v Japan – June 14, 9pm
• v Sweden – June 20, 6pm
• v Tunisia – June 26, 12am

Alexander Isak (Sweden)

For Alexander Isak, this is not just a World Cup. It is the one he has been waiting for.

Sweden missed out in 2022. This time, they clawed their way in through the play-offs, their UEFA Nations League ranking earning them a route and their nerve carrying them over the line. Now they land in Group F with a fresh sense of purpose and a striker ready to test himself against the world.

Isak, still at the start of his World Cup story, walks into a camp reshaped by Graham Potter. Initially appointed on a short-term deal in October, the coach saw his contract extended to 2030 in March, a clear statement that Sweden believe in his project.

The schedule is demanding. Tunisia first, in the early hours. Then the high-profile clash with the Netherlands. Then Japan, with Endo again in the opposite dressing room.

Sweden’s fixtures (Group F)

• v Tunisia – June 15, 3am
• v Netherlands – June 20, 6pm
• v Japan – June 26, 12am

Alexis Mac Allister (Argentina)

Alexis Mac Allister arrives at this World Cup with a medal already in his pocket and a target on his back.

Argentina are chasing history. Only two nations – Italy in the 1930s and Brazil in 1958 and 1962 – have ever retained the men’s World Cup. Lionel Scaloni’s side want to become the third, and they do it with Lionel Messi still at the heart of everything, captaining his country in a sixth World Cup at the age of 38.

Mac Allister’s journey with Argentina changed in Qatar. Then at Brighton & Hove Albion, he watched the opening game, a 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia, from the bench. After that, he started the next six matches, growing into the tournament as Argentina surged to glory.

Now a Liverpool midfielder, he returns as an established piece of Scaloni’s puzzle. Argentina open Group J against Algeria, then face Austria, then Jordan, each step another test of their ability to carry the crown rather than chase it.

Argentina’s fixtures (Group J)

• v Algeria – June 17, 2am
• v Austria – June 22, 6pm
• v Jordan – June 28, 3am

From North America’s vast stadiums to the tight corridors of the group stage, Liverpool’s players are scattered across continents, colours and ambitions. Some are defending titles, some are tasting this stage for the first time, all of them know what this month can do to a career.

The club game pauses. The World Cup takes over. And for these Reds, the next chapter of their story will be written far from Anfield – but watched very closely back home.