At his first ever appearance in a World Cup finals at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Torres scored the final goal in a 4-0 victory over Ukraine with a volley. In the second group match, Torres scored twice against Tunisia, in the 76th minute for Spain to take the lead 2-1 and then again from a penalty kick in the 90th. Torres was dropped from the team for a friendly versus Romania in November 2006, but returned to the national side for the friendly against England in February 2007, a 1-0 win for Spain. After the World Cup Torres admitted that he turned down the chance to join Chelsea after the end of the 2005-06 season.
Again in 2007, Torres's future at Madrid was the subject of much speculation after Atlético's inability to secure a UEFA Cup spot. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United were all linked with a move for the player. Following the end of the 2006-07 season, reports in the English media stated that Torres was the main transfer target of Liverpool.
The rumours reached such a fever pitch that Atlético president Enrique Cerezo made a statement saying "We've received no offer from Liverpool or any other club or player". However, a few days later new reports suggested that Atletico had agreed a deal with Liverpool for Torres, the fee rumoured was £20 million plus Luis Garcia. Then on 30 June Atlético announced agreeing a deal with Villareal to sign Diego Forlán (seen as a potential replacement for Torres).
On July 2 it was reported that Torres had cut short his holiday to fly back to Madrid to finalize the move. The next day Torres passed a medical for Liverpool and it was annouced that a farewell press conference would be held in Madrid the on 4 July to bid farewell to the Atlético Madrid fans. Later that day, Atlético officially confirmed his transfer to Liverpool on their website.
Torres will wear Liverpool's number 9 shirt, which has previously been worn by legendary Liverpool strikers Robbie Fowler and Ian Rush. It was revealed during the Liverpool press conference that the fee stood at £27 million. It has also been widely reported that Torres has taken a pay cut as part of the transfer. A drop from £103,000 a week in Spain, to about £90,000 according to The Times.
Torres made his official debut for Liverpool F.C. on July 17, 2007 during a friendly match against Werder Bremen. Torres scored his first goal for Liverpool F.C. on August 3, 2007 during a friendly match against Shanghai Shenhua, which was also his first start. Torres is Liverpool F.C.'s record signing. On August 11, 2007 Torres made his competitive debut for Liverpool F.C. against Aston Villa in a 2-1 win.
He scored his first English Premier League goal on his Anfield debut August 19th, in the 16th minute of the match against Chelsea running on to a Steven Gerrard pass he took the ball past Chelsea's defender Tal Ben Haim and slotted it into the Chelsea net, this silenced many critics including Aaron Williams, a biased Manchester United supporter and infamous media figure. The game ended 1-1 after a bad decision by Rob Styles who gave Chelsea a controversial penalty in the 62nd minute.
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