No matter what happens at the 2026 World Cup final on Sunday, July 19, one Liverpool player will be getting a winners’ medal.
Argentina beat England 2-1 on Wednesday, with Alexis Mac Allister among the best performers for his country once again despite his underwhelming domestic campaign.
Spain are the team tasked with stopping Mac Allister and co. from clinching a second World Cup in a row, and if they do so, Victor Munoz will receive a winners’ medal.
Munoz hasn’t played a single minute this summer, but thanks to FIFA changing their rules back in 2007, he will still earn a medal without playing, unlike former England stars Ian Callaghan and Gerry Byrne.
Only 11 players from World Cup-winning teams received medals when England won
The Three Lions beat West Germany 4-2 at the 1966 showpiece, their only World Cup triumph to date.
Roger Hunt, who scored three goals during the tournament, started the final and received his medal at the time.
However, two more former Liverpool men, Ian Callaghan and Gerry Byrne, did not make the XI and as a result, were left without medals for decades.
But former FIFA president Sepp Blatter confirmed that the organisation would change those rules in 2007 and compensate players from previous World Cups.
That eventually led to ex-UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown handing out medals to all of the following England players in June 2009:
- Peter Bonetti
- Ron Springett
- Jimmy Armfield
- Gerry Byrne
- Ron Flowers
- Norman Hunter
- Terry Paine
- Ian Callaghan
- John Connelly
- George Eastham
- Jimmy Greaves
Away from England, the rule change ensured that Pele, who missed the 1962 final against Czechoslovakia, was awarded a third medal.
It also meant that 10 Liverpool players now officially have World Cup winners’ medals, with Munoz looking to join that list this weekend.
Mac Allister was the last player to earn one, though he was still at Brighton and Hove Albion in 2022.
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