With a total of 16 players across nine national teams, the Blues possessed the joint second-highest amount of players at the prestigious competition ahead of proceedings starting on 20 November 2022.
And it would turn into a special campaign for a member of Pep Guardiola’s side in a truly iconic season where City would eventual go on to win the Treble.
Here’s how our players fared during the pause in domestic action…
ARGENTINA
Emerging as one of the stars of the tournament, Julian Alvarez was crucial to Argentina’s triumphant World Cup quest which helped end a 36-year wait for his nation to lift the trophy.
The striker featured in each of Lionel Scaloni’s team’s seven matches, netting in their final group match – a 2-0 win over Paraguay – before striking in a 2-1 victory over Australia in the last-16.
Arguably his finest performance would follow in the semi-finals after Argentina beat the Netherlands in the quarters.
Matched up against 2018 finalists Croatia, Alvarez bagged a brace in a 3-0 win which set up the tantalising final with France.
In the showpiece, he more than played his part as his nation beat the Europeans on penalties after an enthralling 3-3 draw after extra-time.
ENGLAND
England entered the tournament after reaching the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and finishing as runners up at the 2020 European Championships.
Hopes were high for the Three Lions which had included Kyle Walker, John Stones, Jack Grealish, Kalvin Phillips and Phil Foden in their squad.
All five of Guardiola’s men were crucial to Gareth Southgate’s team reaching the quarter-finals and Grealish scored in the 6-2 group stage win over Iran before England took four further points from matches with the USA and Wales.
A 3-0 success over Senegal followed ahead of a narrow 2-1 defeat to France which saw England exit at the last-eight stage.
NETHERLANDS
Selected for Lous van Gaal’s squad, Nathan Ake played in each of the Netherlands’ five matches in Qatar.
He helped them to a clean sheet in their opening 2-0 win over Senegal which were then followed up with a draw with Ecuador and a triumph against Qatar.
After securing passage into the knockouts, Ake and .Co booked their place in the last-16 with a 3-1 victory against USA before locking horns with Argentina in the quarters.
A pulsating 2-2 draw followed, but it was the South Americans who would eventual prevail on penalties.
GERMANY
The 2022 World Cup turned into a tournament of frustration for City’s Ilkay Gundogan and Germany who were aiming to better their group stage finish from 2018.
However, a 2-1 defeat to Japan in their opening assignment in the most recent competition meant they had a mountain to climb to reach the knockouts.
The Blues’ midfielder had given his nation the lead against Nadeshiko, but strikes from Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano flipped the match on it’s head.
A respectable 1-1 draw with Spain followed in their second outing – and although they beat Costa Rico 4-2 – they missed out on the last-16 on goal difference.
SPAIN
Pipping Germany to second place in Group E was Spain who had included Rodri and Aymeric Laporte in their squad for the tournament.
And they produced the best-possible start when beating Costa Rica 7-0 which was then followed by a 1-1 draw with Germany as they inched closer to the knockout stages.
However, Spain fell to a narrow 2-1 loss to Japan in their final group assignment, but thanks to their superior goal difference, they advanced into the last-16.
The 2010 World Cup winners would then face Morocco for a place in the quarter-finals where they played out a 0-0 draw after extra-time.
Neither Rodri or Laporte attempted from the spot as Spain lost 3-0 in the penalty shootout.
BELGIUM
Kevin De Bruyne entered the 2022 World Cup with Belgium as one of world football’s finest operators, but unfortunately his nation were unable to progress out of the group stage.
A battling 1-0 win over Canada opened their tournament with three points before they lost 2-0 to Morocco in what was the African nation’s first win at the tournament since 1998.
Needing to beat Croatia in their final assignment, the teams played out a 0-0 draw which saw Belgium eliminated from the competition.
BRAZIL
Brazil entered the 2022 World Cup with a highly competitive goalkeeping department which included City’s Ederson and Liverpool’s Alisson.
The latter was given the nod in back-to-back victories over Serbia and Switzerland which had already secured progression in the last-16.
Ederson was selected between the sticks in their final group assignment which finished in a narrow 1-0 defeat to Cameroon.
That proved to be his last outing at the most recent tournament before Brazil beat South Korea in the last-16 before losing to Croatia on penalties in the quarters.
SWITZERLAND
Finishing behind Brazil in Group G were Switzerland whose defence was marshalled by Manuel Akanji.
He helped them to a clean sheet in their opening 1-0 win over Cameroon but was unable to prevent them from falling to a 1-0 reverse against Brazil in their second outing.
A rollercoaster 3-2 win over Serbia helped Akanji and Co. to the knockout phase and set up a meeting with Portugal.
City’s Swiss defender found the net in the tie, but ultimately it was in vain as they lost 6-1 and exited the 2022 World Cup.
PORTUGAL
Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo arrived in Qatar as key players for Portugal and they were placed into Group H alongside South Korea, Uruguay and Ghana.
Goals from Cristiano Ronalso, Joao Felix and Rafael Leo helped them to a 3-2 success over Ghana before Uruguay were put the sword 2-0 which all-but sealed progress into the last-16.
Although Portugal lost 2-1 to South Korea they would go onto face Switzerland where they produced that clinical 6-1 triumph over their fellow Europeans.
But against the surprise package of the tournament Morocco in the quarter-finals, they lost 1-0 following Youssef En-Nesyri’s first-half goal.
