Top 5 Players To Have Never Played In A World Cup Including 3 Manchester United Legends

A list filled with misfortune and disappointment. Filled with tragedy, injury, lack of discipline, a handful of Manchester United greats and those world-class players surrounded by mediocrity when it comes to the international scene. As the World Cup roars into our living rooms in a couple of weeks from now, we take a little moment to remember those great players who have never had the opportunity of strutting their stuff in the greatest football competition in the planet.

5. Eric Cantona

Le King never quite managed to replicate his performances for Manchester United with the French National team. Cantona managed 20 goals in 45 caps for the French, but he lived up to his reputation as he fell out with his first French boss Henri Michel for making a derogatory remark. Cantona was handed an indefinite ban from the international scene in 1988, but returned three years later only for France to miss out once again in 1994 after losing their final qualifying match at home to Bulgaria when all they needed was a draw.

By the time the 1998 World Cup came around, Cantona had retired from the game – following another ban for an infamous karate kick on a supporter at Selhurst Park – and starred in the film Elizabeth alongside Cate Blanchett. Well, atleast Cantona is the only one here who could say he acted in movies! Well, atleast technically!

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4. George Weah

Liberian-born striker George Weah was one of the top strikers in the 1990s, winning the FIFA World Player of the Year, European Footballer of the Year, and African Footballer of the Year in a glittering career in which he won the biggest tournaments at club level with AC Milan and PSG. Weah is the greatest footballer to come out of Liberia, but sadly, his birth nation never had any hope of making it to the World Cup.

For a period of almost 20 years, Weah was not just the star player, but the coach and the economic force driving Liberia, but while Weah was able to replicate Marco van Basten’s success at AC Milan, Liberia never stood a chance in the international scene. Just another player handicapped by his country’s limitations!

3. Ryan Giggs

Sir Alex Ferguson’s description of the first time he saw Ryan Giggs is one of those classics – “He was 13 and he floated across the ground like a cocker spaniel chasing a piece of silver paper in the wind.” Yes, Ryan Giggs running down the wings and making defenders look like statues was a sight to behold. The most decorated player in the English game, Giggs retired earlier this month as the most successful Manchester United player in the history of the game, finishing with an impressive haul of trophies that includes 13 Premier League titles and 2 Champions League crowns among many others.

The FA scouts had offered Giggs the chance to play for England, but Giggs chose to pull on the Wales shirt and take the responsibility of inspiring a small nation into football’s biggest event. But, much like Gareth Bale is discovering right now, Giggs’ supporting cast at Wales never really allowed him a realistic chance to make it to the World Cup. And sadly for a player of Giggs’ caliber, his only taste of a major international event came when he had the honor of leading the Great Britain team in the Olympics in 2012.

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2. George Best

“George Best was one of the most talented players of all time and probably the best footballer who never made it to a major world final”

These words are not mine, these are Franz Beckenbauer’s. George Best was just so much than your average footballer – he had so much more to him than his skills on the football pitch. The winger from Belfast played most of his career for Manchester United and was popularly known as the fifth Beatle. His charisma off the football pitch often outgrew his personality on it – Best became more of a pop culture symbol in Britain. He caught the imagination of the world with his on and off field antics, and would never shy away from a memorable quote. His life on the fast lane – featuring alcohol, girls and drugs – deadened his football skills, and one wonders what a player he could have been if football meant as much to him as booze or blondes did.

With Northern Ireland failing to qualify for the World Cup between 1958 and 1982, Best never had the opportunity to play in a World  Cup – he was briefly considered by manager  Billy Bingham for the showpiece event in Spain in ’82, but his off field distractions had dulled his footballing abilities. It was the misfortune of the world to have missed the chance to see a player of Best’s class in a World Cup.

1. Alfredo Di Stefano

No other footballer’s career comes remotely close to Di Stefano’s for sheer success at the highest level. Fourteen league titles, five European cups and eight times the top goalscorer in the league, Alfredo Di Stefano was undoubtedly the greatest ever player to have never made what is the pinnacle of any footballer’s career. Even a man of Diego Maradona’s ego couldn’t help but admit that Di Stefano was the greatest ever player – whether he would have conceded that if Di Stefano were Brazilian is for another day.

But unfortunately, Di Stefano’s luck never held when it came to the World Cup. He was denied an appearance in football’s greatest competition by a harsh mix of injury, politics and bad luck. His Argentina team refused to compete in the competition in 1950, while he was ruled out for the 1954 finals by FIFA after he had represented Columbia. He acquired Spanish citizenship in 1956, but La Roja failed to qualify for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden, finishing a point behind Scotland in a three nation qualifying group.

Di Stefano carried Spain to the 1962 finals, but a hamstring injury prior to the competition completed the greatest injustice in football folklore. For a player as good as Di Stefano, it was a real shame.