Either Lautaro Martinez or Julian Alvarez will join the elite list of players who have won the UEFA Champions League and World Cup in the same season.
Both strikers won the FIFA World Cup with Argentina in December 2022 in Qatar after a thrilling final against France. It was the first time since 1986 that the Albiceleste had won the competition.
Martinez and Alvarez will now face each other in the 2023 Champions League final for Inter Milan and Man City respectively. Twenty-five-year-old Martinez will have an important role for the Italian side, with Alvarez likely to start on the bench behind star striker Erling Haaland.
Players who won Champions League and World Cup in same season
There are nine players who have previously won the Champions League and World Cup in the same season.
The most recent player to achieve this was Raphael Varane, winning the European competition with Real Madrid and lifting the World Cup with France in 2018.
Five players incredibly won both tournaments in 1974, as Bayern Munich were victorious in the European Cup while West Germany beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the World Cup final.
Once Martinez or Alvarez win the Champions League, they will be the first player to win both competitions having not played for neither Bayern nor Real Madrid. It will also be the first time that a player has won a World Cup before the Champions League in a season due the international tournament occurring in December for the first time.
| Year | Player | Club (Champions League) |
Country (World Cup) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Raphael Varane | Real Madrid | France |
| 2014 | Sami Khedira | Real Madrid | Germany |
| 2002 | Roberto Carlos | Real Madrid | Brazil |
| 1998 | Christian Karembeu | Real Madrid | France |
| 1974 | Sepp Maier | Bayern Munich | West Germany |
| 1974 | Franz Beckenbauer | Bayern Munich | West Germany |
| 1974 | Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck |
Bayern Munich | West Germany |
| 1974 | Gerd Muller | Bayern Munich | West Germany |
| 1974 | Uli Hoeness | Bayern Munich | West Germany |