How many players have won the Champions League and World Cup in the same season?
Saturday, June 10, 2023
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Only nine players have ever featured on the winning side in European Cup and FIFA World Cup finals in the same season.
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A select group of nine players have lifted the European Cup and FIFA World Cup in the same campaign.
To qualify, players must feature at some point in both winning finals. Argentina's Julián Álvarez would have been added to the list in 2022/23 has he come off the bench on Man City's final success against Inter.
Which players have won the European Cup and World Cup in the same season?
An elite club of nine players have won the European Cup and World Cup in the same season. Six of them did it together. Sepp Maier, Paul Breitner, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller and Uli Hoeness inspired Bayern to their first European Cup in May 1974, before providing the spine of the West Germany team that beat the Netherlands in the World Cup decider in Munich seven weeks later. They came from behind in both finals.
The other three players all achieved the feat after winning the Champions League with Real Madrid: Christian Karembeu in 1998, Roberto Carlos in 2002 and most recently Raphaël Varane in 2018.
It is an elite club which Sami Khedira so nearly joined in 2014, an injury in the warm-up preventing him from turning out for Germany in their World Cup final win against Argentina. He had won the Champions League less than two months earlier.
European Cup/World Cup doubles
1974: Sepp Maier, Paul Breitner, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller, Uli Hoeness (Bayern & West Germany)
1998: Christian Karembeu (Real Madrid & France)
2002: Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid & Brazil)
2018: Raphaël Varane (Real Madrid & France)
Which players have won the European Cup and EURO in the same season?
Ten players have won the European Cup and EURO in the same campaign. To qualify, players must feature at some point in both winning finals. The great Luis Suárez was the first in 1964, helping Inter claim their first continental crown before linking up with two of the defeated Real Madrid players to inspire an inexperienced Spain side to their first major title.
Hans van Breukelen, Ronald Koeman, Berry van Aerle and Gerald Vanenburg were next to achieve the feat. The quartet played key roles as PSV beat Benfica on penalties in the 1988 European Cup final in Stuttgart and, exactly a month later and still in West Germany, added their nation's first major honour. Another PSV man, Wim Kieft, did not make it off the bench in the 1988 EURO final.
Fernando Torres and Juan Mata completed a memorable summer in 2012 when they followed up Champions League glory with Chelsea by scoring in that year's EURO final. Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe played key roles for Real Madrid and Portugal four years later. Jorginho is the only man to complete a EURO/World Cup and European Cup double in an odd-numbered year, after EURO 2020 was postponed 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
European Cup/EURO doubles
1964: Luis Suárez (Inter & Spain)
1988: Hans van Breukelen, Ronald Koeman, Berry van Aerle, Gerald Vanenburg (PSV Eindhoven & Netherlands)
2012: Fernando Torres, Juan Mata (Chelsea & Spain)
2016: Cristiano Ronaldo, Pepe (Real Madrid & Portugal)
2020*: Jorginho (Chelsea & Italy)
*Finals took place in 2021
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