The World Cup has had many winners throughout the years. In fact, every four years, squads of 26 players end up lifting the beautiful game’s most prestigious trophy, with continental glory usually representing the highest point of a footballer’s entire career.

But while footballers see the tournament one way, many supporters see it another. And while the summer football festival often demands a period of respite from club commitments, fans are rarely able to switch off completely. Many will still be debating with rivals about who is better, bigger, more successful, and who will win the next league title on offer.

It’s hardly a yardstick used to settle those arguments, but what does make for an interesting read is seeing which football clubs have produced the most World Cup winners, blurring the lines between domestic, continental, and international prestige. Four Premier League clubs feature on the list, as per Betway Insider, but they don’t rank nearly as high as many might think at first glance.

36-31

Liverpool & Man United feature

In this section, all six clubs can boast of having had five players win the World Cup while representing them. Valencia kicks things off, with La Liga rivals Sevilla following in 35th place. Monaco, meanwhile, sit 34th. Although they are a relative newcomer to football’s elite, their most notable World Cup winner is Kylian Mbappe, who lifted the trophy with France in 2018 before going on to reach even greater heights in terms of his ability at PSG and Real Madrid, cementing his status as one of the best players in the world.

That triumph was Les Bleus’ first World Cup title since 1998. Marseille’s golden era coincided with that earlier success, with both Laurent Blanc and William Gallas representing the club when France won the tournament. They, too, have produced five World Cup winners throughout their history – surprisingly the same number as England’s two most successful clubs, Liverpool and Manchester United.

Lisandro Martinez is the latest player from either club to win the World Cup, while Paul Pogba achieved the feat with France in 2018. The other three Manchester United players to win the tournament while at Old Trafford were all part of England’s only World Cup triumph in 1966: Sir Bobby Charlton, Nobby Stiles, and John Connelly.

Liverpool’s contribution is even more selective. Only two players have both played in – and won – a World Cup final: Roger Hunt with England in 1966 and Fernando Torres with Spain in 2010.

30-25

Chelsea and Atletico Madrid included

Lazio have spent much of the past decade lurking in the shadows, and with Italy having failed to win a World Cup knockout match since lifting the trophy in 2006, it seems unlikely they will add to their tally of five World Cup-winning players any time soon. The same can be said for Bologna, who sit 27th in the rankings, while Brazilian side Cruzeiro – despite their rich history – are hardly the first club Carlo Ancelotti will be looking towards for inspiration.

The third – but not final – Premier League club to feature is Chelsea. Their strong French connection accounts for four of their five World Cup winners, with Marcel Desailly, Frank Leboeuf, N’Golo Kante and Olivier Giroud all lifting the trophy while representing the Blues. Andre Schurrle also won the World Cup with Germany in 2014, while Peter Bonetti was never awarded a winners’ medal from England’s 1966 triumph, missing out due to his role as Gordon Banks’ understudy.

Atletico Madrid have also produced five World Cup winners, largely thanks to their long-standing tradition of developing Spanish talent, complemented by strong Uruguayan and Argentine influences. Sitting 25th are Kaiserslautern, who now ply their trade in Germany’s second tier but were once among the country’s leading clubs, particularly during the 1950s and 1960s.

24-19

Flamengo above PSG

At the time of the last World Cup, PSG boasted a star-studded frontline of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Mbappe, yet still couldn’t find the missing piece in their pursuit of Champions League glory. Meanwhile, Messi finally got his hands on the one trophy that had long eluded him, captaining Argentina to their first World Cup title in 36 years.

In doing so, he became the sixth player to win the World Cup while representing the French giants. That matches the tally of Borussia Monchengladbach, but leaves PSG one short of both Messi’s boyhood club Independiente and South America’s most-supported club, Flamengo.

Sandwiched between those two sides are fellow Rio de Janeiro giants Fluminense, meaning there are no bragging rights to be had in this particular battle, with both Brazilian clubs boasting seven World Cup winners apiece.

Sitting 19th are Borussia Dortmund. They may still live in the shadow of Bayern Munich’s domestic dominance, but they played a key role in Germany’s 2014 World Cup triumph. Kevin Grosskreutz, Roman Weidenfeller, Erik Durm and the ever-reliable Mats Hummels were all part of the squad that lifted the trophy in Brazil, helping Dortmund reach a total of eight World Cup-winning players throughout their history.

18-13

Arsenal are Premier League’s highest-ranking club

Fresh off the back of Premier League glory and an open-top bus parade rumoured to have been the largest in English football history, Arsenal have even more fuel for the argument that they belong in the same bracket as Man United and Liverpool. The Gunners have produced seven World Cup winners, a feat that is hardly surprising given Arsene Wenger’s international outlook. During his reign, Arsenal became the first English top-flight side to field an entirely non-English starting XI.

Somewhat surprisingly, Fiorentina rank one place higher with eight World Cup winners. Brazilian giants Corinthians and Palmeiras lead in front, and with the latter boasting one of the most productive academies in world football, it may not be long before they add to their tally of nine. That is especially true if Brazil can rediscover their former dominance on the international stage, with Palmeiras widely regarded as the country’s leading club in recent years.

FC Koln are next on the list, but they are edged to 13th place by Argentine powerhouse River Plate. Interestingly, their fierce rivals Boca Juniors are nowhere to be found in the rankings, leaving them with the upper hand in this particular battle for bragging rights.

12-7

Real Madrid 11th, Barcelona 9th

AC Milan’s chokehold on European football in the 1980s – combined with the fact they were often the go-to club for Italy managers when selecting national squads during that period – means they boast 10 World Cup winners. Real Madrid just edge ahead of them by one, with both Los Blancos and Botafogo recording 11 winners throughout their history.

However, neither side is their country’s biggest producer of World Cup winners. Barcelona sit in ninth place, while Sao Paulo have managed to amass 13 winners. Even so, Brazil – the five-time world champions – still have another entry further up the list.

Rounding out this section is Nacional, one of only two Uruguayans club to make the cut. Their 13 World Cup winners are largely tied to Uruguay’s early international success in the 1934 and 1950 editions.

6-1

Juventus have produced a staggering 27 winners

Penarol have produced one more winner than Nacional, while they are pipped to a position in the top five by South America’s highest-ranking club in this category: Santos. They have contributed players to the victorious Brazil national teams of 1958, 1962 and 1970 World Cups, with Pele undoubtedly the most prolific.

Three of the top four are Italian clubs, with Roma kicking things off with 17 winners in total. That tally pales in comparison to Inter’s 21, though, while Bayern Munich are runners-up on this ranking with 24. They’ve had winners at seven separate tournaments, but 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 their players each.

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.