'I hope Wirtz has a fantastic World Cup' - Klopp

[Getty Images]Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says he hopes Florian Wirtz has a fantastic World Cup.

>Wirtz joined Liverpool in June 2025, after Klopp had left the club, and has scored seven goals in all competitions for the Reds.

>In an interview with BBC Sport, when asked who he thinks will be the standout players in this summer's tournament, Klopp's affinity for Liverpool came to the fore.

>"I hope Flo Wirtz will have a fantastic, fantastic World Cup. I think he has everything you need to be a standout player," Klopp said.

>"I don't want to put any pressure on the boy. I really think he showed already how good he can be in a difficult season."

>Klopp was Liverpool manager from 2015 until 2024, where he won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and more in a successful spell at Anfield.

>He is now head of global football at Red Bull, and will work at the World Cup for German television as a pundit, as well as in a role as global ambassador for Budweiser.

>Some of the players who had the biggest impact in winning those trophies are at this summer's tournament in North America and Klopp spoke fondly of his former players.

>"I hope my players will have a great World Cup," he added.

>"I hope that Andy Robertson and Alisson Becker can enjoy that when they meet each other. Can you imagine that you play together for such a long time and Scotland qualifies first time, I don't know, since when, for the World Cup, and you meet each other, your friends, your mutual friends, and you meet each other in a game like that? I mean, that must be one of the happiest moments in your life.

>"I wish Virgil [van Dijk] will have a great tournament. I really wish for Mo [Salah] that he will have a great tournament. I honestly wish that Sadio [Mane] will have a great tournament. Macca [Alexis Mac Allister], if he won, if they win it again. It was so nice to see him with a medal around his neck and when he came back to Brighton.

>"So many [of my] former players are part of the World Cup, which is really, really nice. And to see how time flies. Another former player of mine will be a co-pundit of mine, Mats Hummels, Thomas Muller as well, but Mats Hummels was my former player. So, all of a sudden, things changed the perspective."