Legends who never played a FIFA World Cup
These players were football stars, but for one reason or another, they never managed to play in a World Cup.
There are players who became heroes in their countries after winning the FIFA World Cup. Maradona in 1986, Pelé on 3 timas, Iniesta in 2010, Zidane in 1998, among other stars. However, those players played representing countries with powerful and strong teams. Unfortunately, not all great players had the opportunity to be born in countries with competitive national teams. On other occasions, players by chance of fate, could not play it.
These players, not only never won the FIFA World Cup, they couldn't even play it.
Pelé won the FIFA World Cup 3 times
Football stars who never played a World Cup
George Weah
This player born in Liberia (West Africa) was the first and so far only African player to win the Ballon d'Or. Unfortunately, his country never managed to develop his footballing potential, which did not help Weah. However, he tried 3 times and on one occasion, he came very close to succeeding. The first time was in 1990, when they beat Ghana in the first round but, in the group stage, they finished second and only the first qualified. In 1998, they beat Gambia in the first round but then finished third in their group. In 2002, Weah was 34 years old and already on the verge of retirement, however, he decided to try one last time. In the first round, they beat Chad but in the group stage, they came top to the last date, but in the end, Nigeria took first place by only 1 point. They were on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in their history. Unfortunately, George Weah did not make it.
George Weah played 70 games for Liberia, scored 18 goals but never qualified for a World Cup.
Ryan Giggs
Probably one of the best-known cases is that of the Welsh midfielder Ryan Giggs. Idol and figure of Manchester United. With the Red Devils Giggs won more than 30 championships and won dozens of individual awards. Despite all their success, the Welsh National Team has never had a powerful team, and the European qualifier is at a very high level. In total, Giggs played in 4 World Cup qualifiers, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006. And in none of them did he come close to achieving it. His team always finished among the last places in the European group stage. Wales only played 1 World Cup in its history and it was in Sweden 1958. However, Ryan Giggs is very happy that Wales qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, after 64 years of waiting.
Despite being one of the best midfielders in the world, Ryan Giggs played for a Wales team that was not competitive.
Alfredo Di Stéfano
Despite being the best player of the 20th century, Di Stéfano never managed to play in a World Cup. This player had 2 nationalities, Argentine and Spanish. Due to political problems, Argentina decided not to play in the 1950 and 1954 World Cups. In 1954, Di Stefano was already a Real Madrid player and therefore became a Spanish citizen. His first opportunity with the Spanish team was in 1958, but in that year, his team failed to qualify and was eliminated. 4 years later, he tried again and this time he had better luck. The Spanish team managed to qualify and Di Stefano was among the players who were registered to participate. However, he was injured a few days before debuting. Although FIFA does recognize his participation, he never played a single minute.
He barely played six games with the Argentine National Team, and scored the same number of goals. While playing for Spain, he appeared in 31 games and scored 23 goals.
An injury prevented Di Stéfano from playing in the 1962 World Cup.
Continue reading: Biggest surprises in the FIFA World Cup - Part 1
Esta nota habla de:
