- Which 13 Man Utd players have won the World Cup
- The five whom have lifted the trophy whilst at the club
- The World Cup starts in _ days
With the World Cup beginning in just a few days, 12 Man Utd players will be vying to bring football’s greatest prize back to their respective nations.
With the likes of Matheus Cunha, Casemiro, Marcus Rashford, and Kobbie Mainoo representing Brazil and England—though Rashford looks set to depart and Casemiro has already played his final game in red—United have a genuine chance of producing another World Cup winner.
But out of the current 13—unlucky for some—who tops the list of United’s World Cup-winning contingent?
Just five players have lifted the coveted trophy whilst at the club, with United boasting a winner from each of the previous two editions.
Note – these players have been ranked from their time at United only
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13. Victor Valdes
The signing of Victor Valdes in October 2014 remains one of the strangest pieces of business United have conducted in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
It seemed all but certain that Valdes would join Monaco, having signed a pre-contract agreement with the French side in the summer of 2014, but a cruciate ligament injury prompted Monaco to withdraw.
Manchester United instead offered the Spaniard a place to rehabilitate, helped in part by his existing relationship with Louis van Gaal and goalkeeping coach Frans Hoek.
What followed was a bizarre near two-year spell in which Valdes played just two matches—drawing both—refused to feature in a reserve game, was shipped out on loan to Standard Liege in January 2016, before finally departing for Middlesbrough six months later.
It was a textbook example of how not to handle one of the generation’s finest goalkeepers, with Valdes having served as Spain’s third-choice keeper during the 2010 World Cup, when they became one of the greatest international sides ever assembled.
12. Bastian Schweinsteiger
Whilst Bastian Schweinsteiger spent just one full season at United, largely underwhelming and unable to showcase the talent that made him a legend at Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, the German World Cup winner has developed an almost cult-hero status among supporters, largely because of his affection for the club.
If you ever venture onto social media platform X—formerly Twitter—you may have seen Schweinsteiger posting selfies in front of his television with United playing in the background, cheering on his former side.
These small gestures and moments have elevated his standing among supporters, with many convinced he still carries genuine affection for a club he represented just 35 times.
Schweinsteiger was, of course, a pivotal member of Germany’s 2014 World Cup-winning squad, though he was still playing for Bayern Munich when he lifted the coveted trophy.
His man-marking and containment of Lionel Messi is remembered fondly by those not of Argentine descent, and he is often credited as a major reason why the mesmerising forward was kept so quiet throughout the final.
11. Kleberson
Moving into 11th place, we find Brazilian midfielder Kleberson, who featured in five of Brazil’s seven matches at the 2002 World Cup, including every game from the quarter-finals onwards.
He would assist Ronaldo Nazario’s second goal in the final, putting Brazil 2-0 ahead and beyond the reach of Germany, who slumped to a fourth World Cup final defeat—the most of any nation.
Kleberson’s time at United was underwhelming to say the least. He made just 30 appearances across two seasons and later told FourFourTwo that one of the reasons he joined the Red Devils was because he believed Brazilian teammate Ronaldinho would soon follow.
Despite his disappointing spell at Old Trafford, he still collected a major honour, with a Cristiano Ronaldo header and a Ruud van Nistelrooy brace securing a 3-0 victory over second-division Millwall in the 2003/04 FA Cup final.
10. Gerard Pique
Had Gerard Pique remained at United for the entirety of his career, there is every chance he would have cracked the top three on this list.
One of the finest centre-backs of his generation, Pique made just 23 appearances across four years, unable to break up the formidable partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.
When Barcelona came calling in the summer of 2008, United allowed him to leave for the modest sum of £5 million.
Just a year later, he was lifting the Champions League in Rome, having won the competition in consecutive seasons and defeated his former club 2-0 in the final.
The next 13 years served as a reminder of just how costly that decision proved, with Pique making more than 600 appearances for Barcelona and 102 for Spain, collecting 26 major honours along the way, including three Champions Leagues, the 2012 European Championship, and the 2010 World Cup.
9. Laurent Blanc
Similar to another French defender further up this list, Sir Alex Ferguson spent years trying to lure Laurent Blanc to Old Trafford before finally persuading the veteran defender to head north in 2001.
Already 35 when he arrived, Blanc would grace United supporters with his presence for just two seasons before bringing the curtain down on a glittering career.
Early in his United spell, Blanc attracted plenty of criticism as the reigning champions stumbled through the opening months of the campaign, suffering six defeats before Christmas and slumping to ninth in the table.
Form returned during the second half of the season, but damaging defeats to Liverpool and Arsenal ultimately saw United fall short in the title race, finishing third.
The following season proved a different story. After ending the previous campaign empty-handed, Blanc and United responded emphatically, reclaiming the Premier League title in what would be the final season of his career.
The French centre-back played a vital role in that triumph, featuring 25 times across all competitions and finally securing the league winner’s medal that had somehow eluded him throughout an otherwise illustrious career.
8. Fabien Barthez
A mercurial figure during one of Ferguson’s less dominant periods, Fabien Barthez remains one of the most eccentric players ever to grace the Old Trafford turf.
One moment every United supporter from the early 2000s remembers is Barthez standing rooted to the spot as West Ham’s Paulo Di Canio raced through on goal, with the Frenchman attempting to persuade the referee to award an offside instead.
He did not, and Di Canio simply rolled the ball into the net, producing one of the most bizarre goals in FA Cup history.
Barthez was part of France’s 1998 World Cup-winning squad, where number nine on this list, Laurent Blanc, would famously kiss his shaved head before every match, convinced it brought Les Bleus good fortune.
Across three seasons in Manchester, Barthez helped United lift two league titles before eventually departing for Marseille.
Naturally, after retiring in 2007, Barthez swapped one adrenaline rush for another and pursued a career in motorsport.
7. Lisandro Martinez
The only current player on this list, Lisandro Martinez, is one of just five footballers to have won the World Cup whilst representing Manchester United.
Joining Erik ten Hag in 2022, Martinez immediately injected structure and aggression into a back line that had too often looked vulnerable, whilst also excelling with his progressive passing from deep.
Barely months into his United career, Martinez found himself clutching the most coveted trophy in world sport, as Lionel Messi finally completed football by winning the World Cup at the final opportunity of his career.
Martinez played 301 minutes throughout the tournament, though he was not called upon in the final, remaining on the bench as Argentina defeated France in one of the greatest World Cup finals ever played.
He will be hoping to add a second consecutive World Cup this summer, joining the exclusive group of 21 players who have lifted football’s greatest prize on two occasions.
Should Martinez remain at Old Trafford for years to come, there is every chance he climbs as high as third on this list.
6. Raphael Varane
A defender who often looked at his best when allowed to express the footballing side of his game, Raphael Varane enjoyed a three-year stint with the Red Devils, even claiming he celebrated the League Cup and FA Cup more than some of his Champions League triumphs with Real Madrid.
That alone is enough to place him high on this list.
Despite making only 95 appearances for United, Varane enjoyed a meaningful spell at Old Trafford, collecting two major honours, including the FA Cup in his final appearance for the club.
His World Cup triumph arrived in 2018, when a star-studded French side swept aside the competition, producing one of the most commanding tournament runs of the modern era.
Had United succeeded in signing Varane in 2011 when Ferguson first wanted him, his place on this list would likely be a very different story.
Still, when supporters reflect on the period a five-time Champions League winner wore the shirt, they will remember him fondly: a commanding French centre-back who arrived during one of the club’s bleakest modern chapters, yet consistently carried himself with class, authority and quiet excellence.
5. John Connelly
One of the lesser-known figures in Manchester United history, John Connelly patrolled the wing across three seasons at Old Trafford, making over 100 appearances and scoring 35 goals.
Signed from Burnley for £85,000 in 1964, Connelly arrived at a club beginning to gather momentum, and in his debut season he lifted the first major honour of his career as United secured the league title.
Connelly played a pivotal role in that side, scoring 15 league goals—the third-highest tally behind Denis Law and David Heard—whilst also registering 20 goals in all competitions, once again trailing only Law and Heard.
His international career was less distinguished. The inside-forward won 20 caps for England, scoring seven goals, with his final appearance arriving in the opening match of the 1966 World Cup, a goalless draw.
Because he did not feature in the final, Connelly was not initially awarded a winner’s medal—only the 11 players involved in the 4-2 victory over West Germany received one—until the Football Association successfully campaigned for FIFA to recognise every member of England’s victorious squad.
Connelly may have become a World Cup winner whilst at Manchester United, but he did not receive official recognition until 2009, just three years before his death.
4. Paul Pogba
A player of exquisite elegance and mesmerising craft, yet concurrently one of the most fiercely divisive figures ever to don the red of Manchester United.
The phrase that followed Paul Pogba throughout his Old Trafford career was simple: on his day, he was unplayable.
And in many respects, it was absolutely true.
Look at the finest moments of his career, whether for club or country. At the 2018 World Cup, Pogba became the first—and to this day only—Manchester United player to score in a World Cup final, helping France sweep Croatia aside in a 4-2 victory.
At club level, many supporters immediately think of Manchester City away in 2018, when United delayed their rivals’ title celebrations.
Sporting a controversial blue streak through his hair, Pogba had endured a turbulent spell at Old Trafford and had reportedly even been offered to City earlier that year.
Yet when the moment arrived, he seized control of the occasion, dragging United back from a 2-0 deficit and scoring twice in quick succession as the Reds stunned City 3-2.
3. Juan Mata
Bronze medal goes to Juan Mata, though it could easily have belonged to Pogba.
One of the most technically gifted footballers United have possessed in recent years, Mata was the finest attacking midfielder at the club in the post-Ferguson era before the arrival of Bruno Fernandes.
If there is one moment that perfectly captures the Spaniard’s genius, it is his sensational scissor-kick against Liverpool during the 2014/15 campaign.
Having been comprehensively outplayed by Liverpool across both league meetings the previous season, United were desperate for revenge and dismantled the runners-up 3-0 at Old Trafford in December.
A few months later, Mata would line up against them once again, this time in Steven Gerrard’s final meeting with United.
After putting United ahead, Mata watched as Gerrard suffered a moment of madness, entering at half-time before receiving a red card just 38 seconds later for a stamp on Ander Herrera.
Fourteen minutes after Gerrard’s final meaningful contribution against United, Mata soared into the air to meet an Angel Di Maria chip, connecting sweetly with his left foot and sending the ball crashing into the Liverpool net, as Anfield became Juanfield.
2. Nobby Stiles
There are few players more synonymous with Manchester United’s rise from the ashes of Munich than the great Nobby Stiles.
Standing at just 5ft 6in—two inches shorter than Amad Diallo—Stiles hardly cut an imposing figure. Yet beneath that compact frame lurked one of the fiercest competitors the English game has ever produced.
Relentless, snarling and utterly uncompromising, Stiles played football with a controlled fury. If victory demanded a battle, he was always willing to wage it.
Born in north Manchester, Stiles emerged through United’s academy before breaking into the first team in 1960.
Over the next 11 years he made 395 appearances and helped restore the club to the summit of both English and European football.
He also remains one of just five players to win the World Cup whilst representing Manchester United.
His display against Eusebio during the 1966 World Cup remains one of football’s definitive man-marking masterclasses, with Stiles reducing the Ballon d’Or holder to a peripheral figure as England defeated West Germany 4-2 in the final.
He was one of only five players to play every minute of England’s victorious campaign.
Two years later, he repeated the trick against Eusebio once more, as United dismantled Benfica 4-1 to claim the European Cup.
Beyond his playing career, Stiles took up a coaching role between 1989 and 1993 in the youth academy, helping nurture what would become the Class of 92′.
1. Sir Bobby Charlton
Whenever the conversation turns to Manchester United’s greatest-ever players, one name inevitably sits above all others: Sir Bobby Charlton.
Across the club’s 148-year history, United have been blessed with some of football’s most extraordinary talents. Wayne Rooney, Denis Law, Cristiano Ronaldo, Bryan Robson and countless others have all left indelible marks on Old Trafford.
But in truth, only the mercurial George Best can genuinely stand alongside Charlton when discussing the finest performer ever to wear the shirt.
Capable of operating out wide, through midfield or as a withdrawn forward, Charlton possessed a rare blend of elegance and destruction. Few players in football history have married artistry and end product quite so effortlessly.
His performances during England’s 1966 World Cup triumph are surpassed only by Bobby Moore and perhaps Geoff Hurst’s display in the final itself.
For his exploits at both club and international level, Charlton lifted the Ballon d’Or in what remains the closest vote in the award’s history. Charlton received 81 votes. Eusebio received 80. In an England shirt, only Moore can truly rival his influence.
Charlton did not merely represent Manchester United; in many ways, he became its living embodiment, loving the club through every triumph and every tragedy.
And throughout his 17-year career at Old Trafford, he carried the burden of Munich and the memory of his fallen teammates on his shoulders, a responsibility no footballer should ever have been asked to bear.
