Liverpool will have only eight players involved in the 2026 World Cup, a rare break from the usual summer drain on the squad and one that leaves 14 senior players available from the start of pre-season. For Dominik Szoboszlai, who has just come through a gruelling campaign, it means time to rest and reset physically and emotionally before the 2026-27 season begins.
The eight set for the tournament are Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, Cody Gakpo, Alexis Mac Allister, Wataru Endo, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak. Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson and Ibrahima Konate are still technically Liverpool players until June 30, but the club’s core is otherwise unusually close to home as the World Cup expands to 48 teams and national squads draw in players from across the globe.
That matters now because pre-season is where a new head coach gets his first real stretch of work, and Liverpool will be able to do far more of it with established senior players than is usually the case. Giorgi Mamardashvili, Freddie Woodman, Jeremie Frimpong, Joe Gomez, Giovanni Leoni, Jeremy Jacquet, Milos Kerkez, Kostas Tsimikas, Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Trey Nyoni, Federico Chiesa and Rio Ngumoha are all available from the start, a group that has already spent a season around the matchday squad and should give Andoni Iraola a fuller base to work with.
Iraola has been clear about how he intends to frame that group. “For me, and I will tell them, (they) are all new signings,” he said, before adding that he sees “a lot of quality” in the squad and is “really looking forward to working with them.” It is a deliberate reset, even if it comes with an awkward footnote: Liverpool’s fitness levels were heavily criticised last season, and this summer’s cleaner run of availability will do little on its own to erase that memory.
There is also no guarantee that more time together will fix everything. Hugo Ekitike would have been in the France squad before a serious Achilles injury in March, while Jeremy Jacquet’s shoulder problem ended his late push for a place with the French side. The squad is healthier than expected, but it is still being assembled against the backdrop of absences, injuries and players moving in and out of international duty until June 30.
For Liverpool, the practical advantage is obvious: a new coach will have a larger, more settled group in front of him when pre-season starts, and the chance to build fitness and relationships without the usual World Cup delay. Whether that translates into sharper legs and fewer problems once the season begins is the question that will only be answered on the pitch, but Iraola is at least inheriting a summer that gives him more time to shape the team than most Liverpool managers get.
