Newcastle United have had countless stars play international football over the years but who has earned the most caps?
International football will take centre stage in the summer of 2026 as the World Cup will return, emanating from Canada, Mexico and the United States of America.
Newcastle United will have a strong representation in North America, with several stars already sealing their place.
Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton’s Brazil have long been qualified, while Anthony Gordon fired England to become the first European side to do so with a 5-0 win over Latvia in October.
Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw’s Germany and an Italy led by Sandro Tonali will likely follow them in November, though Anthony Elanga’s Sweden look set to miss out.
Newcastle have had 32 of their players at World Cups in the past, while Alan Shearer is their most capped England player of all time.
But Shearer is massively out-gunned in the most capped Newcastle player ever by Shay Given.
Shay Given is Newcastle United’s most-capped player ever
Legendary goalkeeper Given played 134 times for the Republic of Ireland, with his debut coming in 1996 and his final game coming a full 20 years later in 2016.
Given earned 82 of those caps while he was at St. James’ Park from 1997, when he arrived for just £1.5m from Blackburn Rovers, to his departure for £7m to Manchester City in 2009.
That easily makes him Newcastle’s most-capped international, with Shearer only playing 35 times for England in the decade he spent at his hometown club.
Given would play in two tournaments for Ireland, a World Cup and a Euros, while he was in the squad, but didn’t play a minute at Euro 2016.
He was in goal for Ireland’s last appearance at the World Cup in 2002 when, despite the turmoil of captain Roy Keane leaving the squad due to a bust-up with manager Mick McCarthy, Ireland still made it out of the groups.
Ireland took Spain to penalties in the last 16 but were knocked out in heartbreaking fashion.
Ireland again made it to the last 16 at Euro 2016 but lost to host nation France 2-1, with Given retiring from international football shortly afterwards.
He tweeted his announcement and said: “I’m one of the lucky ones who got to wear the jersey for his country and wore the badge with pride 134 times,” he wrote.
“But now it’s time to hang up the gloves and move from the onion bag to the terraces, where I’ll be shouting the lads on as one of Ireland’s biggest fans.
“So as I retire from Ireland to focus on my club career, I want to say a huge thanks to everyone who supported me all the way; my close family, friends and the amazing fans.
“I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Given continued playing for a further year with Stoke City before retiring in 2017. He is now a well-respected pundit and Newcastle club ambassador.