FACT-CHECK: No! It’s not true that no Manchester United midfielder has lifted World Cup

Introduction

The 2026 FIFA World Cup has come and gone with Spain’s deserved victory over Argentina on Sunday. But the memories, records, feelings, and the arguments among the football fans have never ended.

There have been online arguments among the fans over their favourite footballers. Others have also engaged in many arguments over new records set at this tournament.

Claim

On the X platform , a user, @Waspapping_ (Sarki), has claimed that “There’s no midfielder, dead or alive, who has ever won the World Cup as a Manchester United player.”

With over 60k views and more than a hundred likes, the post has generated reactions from others who do not believe that the claim is true.

Verification

Sir Bobby Charlton, who has died aged 86, was arguably the finest English footballer of his generation.

Born in Ashington, Bobby played alongside his elder brother Jack against West Germany at Wembley in 1966 as one of only 11 England players to win the World Cup and captained Manchester United to the game’s major honours, including the European Cup in 1968.

He played as an attacking midfielder.

As a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World Cup, he also won the Ballon d’Or that year. He finished second in the Ballon d’Or voting in 1967 and 1968. He played almost all of his club football at Manchester United.

England 1966 World Cup winner Nobby Stiles was a tough-tackling defensive midfielder, capped 28 times by England and played nearly 400 times for Manchester United.

Stiles, who lived in Stretford, south Manchester, died in a care home on October 30, 2020, having been left bed-bound by his severe dementia.

Paul Pogba a defensive midfielder, was the first Manchester United player to win the World Cup since 1966 after he helped fire France to victory over Croatia in the 2018 final in Moscow.

While United have had several World Cup winners play for them in seasons past – Kleberson and Juan Mata are recent examples – Pogba is the first to do so while actually playing for the Old Trafford club since a trio of United men won the trophy with England.