From George Weah to Ryan Giggs, some amazing footballers have achieved great success without ever playing in any of the World Cup editions. Today, we would highlights all the top 5 football stars who, despite their outstanding careers in club football, never got the chance to represent their countries on the biggest stage. Let’s go straight into the inspiring stories of these underrated legends. Number 1 on the list would shock you. Read on:
5) Ryan Giggs – Manchester United and Wales
The old Trafford legend has one of the best club records after spending his career winning trophies, scoring goals, giving assists with Manchester United.
He holds the highest appearance for a premier league club with over 900 appearances for Manchester United, 168 goals and 163 assists in a sterling career at the club.
Unfortunately, the 13 time premier league champion never qualified for a major international championship with his native country, Wales.
He ended his amazing career after announcing his retirement on 1st July 2014.
4) George Weah – Liberia
The legendary player who played for several clubs in Europe is another player that is sadly on this list. After making his mark in France with Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain, the Liberian caught the attention of the world with his performances at AC Milan.
He played 411 official club matches, and scored 193 goals playing for clubs like Paris Saint-German, Monaco, Marseille, AC Milan,
He remains the only African player to have won the Ballon d’Or in 1995 for his top starred performance at AC Milan, won them the League but never got the opportunity to grace the world cup stage.
3) George Best – Northern Ireland
The Manchester United legend won the European Cup, English League cup and English FA Cup with Manchester United. He had 522 club appearance, hit the back of the goal post 189 times and providing 13 assists.
Unfortunately, even George Best could not make it to the World Cup even after playing for his country 37 times. George Best could not lead Northern Ireland to the World Cup Finals.
At his peak, he was as good as anyone. Unfortunately, by the time his country qualified for the Finals in 1982, the 36-year-old was past his prime.
2) Liam Brady – Ireland
Brady, a creative midfield maestro who played with great success in England and Italy, made over 200 appearances for Arsenal, along with winning the FA Cup in 1979.
Then came the big switch to Juventus at a time when few players from UK were going abroad. He was one of the first big players to move to a club abroad.
Brady bucked the trend by winning two Serie A titles with the old lady.
He also had spells with Sampdoria, Inter Milan and Ascoli.
Unfortunately, Brady could not replicate the success on the World Cup level as he was not selected for 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy.
1) Alfredo Di Stefano – Argentina, Columbia, Spain
The blonde arrow won five European Cups with Real Madrid but never played at the World Cup despite representing three different countries at international level during his prime years.
He was playing for Argentina when they refused to enter the 1950 tournament. In 1954, he was playing for Colombia, but was deemed ineligible by FIFA.
The last chance he had to feature in a world cup was for Spain when he became Spanish citizen, but Spain failed to qualify and when they did qualify in 1962, he was ruled out through injury.
Conclusion
The stories of these five football legends who never graced the World Cup stage, we should be reminded that a successful footballing career is not only measured by international medals.
Their achievements, skills, and legacies in club football still remains an inspiration to the current and future generations. Although they didn’t feature and feel the experience of the World Cup, their legacies on the beautiful game will forever be written in history.
Thank you for reading and we hope you enjoyed after lines of this wonderful piece of content. See you next time.