Liverpool's 5 World Cup winners including star who ditched Reds for Chelsea

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Despite being just three games old, the domestic season is currently on pause, with players having jetted off to all corners of the world to represent their countries during the international break.

World Cup qualifiers are taking place ahead of next summer's tournament in North America, where some players will realize their boyhood dreams and become champions of the world.

Somewhat surprisingly, there have only ever been five players who were contracted to Liverpool when they won the World Cup, with three of them part of England's triumphant squad in 1966 and the other two claiming glory with Spain in 2010. Here's who they are...

Roger Hunt - 1966

Hunt is a bona fide Liverpool legend, having turned out almost 500 times for the Reds during his career, playing a part in the team's promotion to the old First Division in 1962, before also winning the league in 1964 and 1965.

Only Ian Rush has scored more goals for Liverpool than Hunt managed, but Mohamed Salah could surpass him in the next couple of seasons — the Egyptian's current total is just 34 fewer than Hunt's.

Hunt scored three goals on England's run to World Cup glory and lined up in the final, in which fellow striker Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick.

Ian Callaghan - 1966

Ian Callaghan stands alone as the Liverpool player with the most appearances in the club's history, having turned out 857 times for the Reds — that's more than 100 appearances more than the next player on the list, Jamie Carragher.

Despite his prominence for Liverpool, Callaghan made just four appearances for England. One of those came against France in the '66 World Cup, a game in which he assisted a goal for Hunt.

Callaghan did not appear in the final against West Germany, and at the time that meant he was not eligible to receive a medal, but an FA-led campaign to persuade FIFA to award winner's medals to all squad numbers ensured he received a medal more than 50 years later, in 2009.

Gerry Byrne - 1966

Byrne made over 300 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions, but he is mostly remembered for playing on with a broken collarbone during the 1965 FA Cup final.

At the time, substitutions were still not permitted, so when Byrne suffered the injury just minutes after kick-off, Liverpool faced being down to 10 men for the remainder of the game. Byrne opted to stay on the field, and he even assisted one of Liverpool's goals in the 2-1 win over Leeds.

Byrne was in the squad for the 1966 World Cup but did not make an appearance in the competition. Like Callaghan, he received a winner's medal in 2009.

Pepe Reina - 2010

The recently retired Pepe Reina spent nine years at Liverpool between 2005 and 2014, and in the summer of 2010 he was part of the Spain squad that won the World Cup in 2010.

Reina was an unused substitute throughout the tournament, with Iker Casillas occupying the No.1 spot for La Roja in South Africa.

Fernando Torres - 2010

Fernando Torres should have been at the peak of his powers in 2010 but he went into the tournament having not figured for Liverpool in the final few weeks of the season due to a knee injury.

Torres underwent surgery on the issue two months before the tournament and struggled upon his return. Torres started Spain's first five games in the tournament but was taken off in all of them, and he was taken out of the starting line-up for both the semi-final and the final.

Torres came off the bench in the final and sustained another injury in it. Although he won the World Cup, the question remains over whether his decision to rush back ultimately caused his deterioration, as Torres was never quite the same after 2010.

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