The 2026 World Cup is almost upon us, with the newly-expanded tournament getting underway on Thursday and continuing right the way through to the final on 19 July.Liverpool will have eight current players involved at the finals, along with the departing trio of Mo Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate, although recent England debutant Rio Ngumoha won’t feature because of his omission from the provisional 55-player squad in May.DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL EMPIRE OF THE KOP APP FOR ALL THE LATEST & BREAKING UPDATES – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAYWith the competition taking place across a multitude of time zones in North America, it’ll mean some very late nights for Reds fans in the UK, Ireland and Europe if they want to see every game involving an Anfield star.Dates and times for every World Cup group game featuring Liverpool playersHere’s the full list of group games with Liverpool involvement, with kick-off times listed in BST:Saturday 13 June11pmBrazil v MoroccoAlisson BeckerSunday 14 June6pmGermany v CuracaoFlorian WirtzSunday 14 June9pmNetherlands v JapanVan Dijk, Gakpo, Gravenberch, EndoMonday 15 June3amSweden v TunisiaAlexander IsakWednesday 17 June2amArgentina v AlgeriaAlexis Mac AllisterSaturday 20 June1:30amBrazil v HaitiAlisson BeckerSaturday 20 June6pmNetherlands v SwedenVan Dijk, Gakpo, Gravenberch, IsakSaturday 20 June9pmGermany v Ivory CoastFlorian WirtzSunday 21 June5amTunisia v JapanWataru EndoMonday 22 June6pmArgentina v AustriaAlexis Mac AllisterWednesday 24 June11pmScotland v BrazilAlisson BeckerThursday 25 June9pmEcuador v GermanyFlorian WirtzFriday 26 JunemidnightTunisia v NetherlandsVirgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, Ryan GravenberchFriday 26 JunemidnightJapan v SwedenWataru Endo, Alexander IsakSunday 28 June3amJordan v ArgentinaAlexis Mac AllisterWant more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustWhich Liverpool players will stand out the most at this World Cup?Curiously, more than half of the Liverpool players at this World Cup are concentrated in one group, with Netherlands, Sweden and Japan all facing off in Group E, and at least two of those (quite plausibly all three) will advance to the knockout rounds.Danny Murphy is particularly intrigued to see Wirtz, Isak and Gravenberch in action, with the former two feeling they’ll have a point to prove after the criticism they shipped in their first season at Anfield, and the latter’s positional deployment under Ronald Koeman sure to be intriguing.There’ll also be plenty of eyes on holders Argentina to see if they can become the first team since 1962 to retain the World Cup trophy. If that happens, Mac Allister would become the first LFC player to win the tournament since Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina with Spain in 2010.Even with no Liverpool involvement in the England squad, there’s sure to be plenty of vested interest from Kopites in the 48-team extravaganza across USA, Canada and Mexico, not least from the Reds’ new head coach Andoni Iraola as he scopes out the players he’ll be leading next season.The post 3am kick-off, anyone? Dates and times for every World Cup group game involving Liverpool players appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.