Leeds United are about to take over the world. Well, sort of.
When the Qatar World Cup kicks off in November this year, Jesse Marsch’s West Yorkshire giants will have their fair share of representatives on the global stage.
Wing wizard Raphinha is a regular in the Brazil squad these days, Mateusz Klich and Kalvin Phillips are contenders to start for Poland and England respectively while Diego Llorente has eight caps for the Spanish national team.
If they can put injury-hit campaigns behind then, Robin Koch and Patrick Bamford may be in contention too. And, should Wales see of Scotland or Ukraine in their delayed qualifier, Tyler Roberts and Dan James will have a seat on the plane too.
But which other Leeds United stars have featured at the so-called ‘Festival of Football’?
From West Yorkshire to the World Cup
In total, 25 players contracted to the three-time English champions have been included in various World Cup squads, from Wilbur Cush (Northern Ireland, 1958) to Pontus Jansson (Sweden, 2018).
Jack Charlton and Norman Hunter got their mitts on the iconic Jules Rimet trophy as England defeated West Germany at Wembley 56 years ago. No other Leeds player has ever won the tournament, though a couple have come close.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was part of the Netherlands squad who finished fourth in 1998. Danny Mills and Rio Ferdinand were powerless to prevent Ronaldinho’s infamous lob from soaring over David Seaman’s head four years later, while Robbie Fowler and Nigel Martyn watched on from the bench.
The Republic of Ireland recorded their joint-best World Cup finish in South Korea and Japan, with Robbie Keane, Ian Harte and Gary Kelly in tow. Kelly featured in 1994 too while legendary South African Lucas Radebe also appeared in two different tournaments either side of the millennium.
Then there’s Eddie Lewis (USA, 2008), Rui Marques (Angola, 2006), Martin Hiden (Austria, 1998) and Gunnar Halle (Norway, 1998).
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Charlton and Hunter, meanwhile, were joined by Terry Cooper and Allan Clarke as England failed to retain their crown in 1970. Scotland held Brazil to a draw in 1974, meanwhile, with a quintet of Leeds stars in their ranks; Joe Jordan, David Harvey, Peter Lorimer, Gordon McQueen and Billy Bremner.
Frank Gray also represented Scotland in 1982.
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