Top five players to never feature at the FIFA World Cup

Despite having tremendous success at the club level, these legends never featured at the world cup.

The FIFA World Cup consists of the best national teams in the world with the best players as well. The likes of Platini, Pele, Maradona, Messi, Ronaldo and many more have graced the tournament with their exemplary talent. However, there are also many reputed players who have achieved wonders in their club careers but have never featured in the World Cup.

Let's take a look at the top 5 players who have never played in the FIFA World Cup.

5. Matthew Le Tissier (England)

Le Tissier was a player with an excellent skill set. The former England international has scored many great goals and almost all the goals he scored throughout his career were wonderful. He has won quite a few goals of the month awards in his career as well. Tissier also won the PFA Young Player of the Year award back in 1990. Le Tissier is a Southampton legend, he scored 100 goals for the Saints in 270 appearances.

However, it is quite easy to see that he did not make the cut for the national team often because of playing for a mid-table team. Tissier made just 8 appearances for his national team but he could have featured in the 1994 World Cup unfortunately, England did not qualify.

4. Eric Cantona (France)

Cantona is quite possibly one of the few players who came very close to playing in the World Cup but missed out in the end on two separate occasions. Cantona scored 161 goals in 432 appearances at the club level. He is renowned as one of the best strikers in football history. The Premier League even inducted him into their hall of fame as one of the most legendary strikers to grace the league.

The French striker somehow missed out on featuring in the World Cup twice. Les Bleus lost to Bulgaria in a must-win game in the dying moments and France failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup with Cantona leading the team as captain. France did qualify for the 1998 World Cup but unfortunately, the Manchester United legend missed out because of an injury. Zidane took his place and what proceeded next is very well known in football history.

3. Ryan Giggs (Wales)

Giggs is not only the most decorated player from Manchester United but he is also the most decorated player in English football. He has amassed 34 trophies in his long playing career. 

His international career started with the England junior team but unfortunately, he was not eligible to feature for the senior team. Giggs earned his Wales cap at the age of just 17 years and 320 days which was the youngest at the time. Wales were very close to qualifying for the 1994 World Cup. However, they lost the match 2-1 against Romania because of a penalty miss and Wales never made it to the World Cup. As of now, Wales has successfully qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup by beating Ukraine 1-0 in the final of the qualifiers.

2. Alfredo Di Stefano (Argentina, Spain and Colombia)

Di Stefano was perhaps the most unfortunate player when it comes to playing at the World Cup. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite getting the chance to play for 2 strong nations - Spain and Argentina, he did not play at the World Cup.

Argentina stepped out of the 1950 and 1954 World Cup Qualifiers. However, FIFA ruled him out because Stefano had already racked up 4 caps for Colombia. Proceeding this, he acquired his citizenship for Spain. Alfredo Di Stefano did play the World Cup Qualifying matches in 1957 but unfortunately, Spain succumbed to Switzerland and missed out. When the chance did arrive at the 1962 World Cup, Di Stefano was ruled out because of an injury which ultimately led to his retirement from the national team.

1. George Best (Northern Ireland)

Best is one of the best players to feature for Manchester United and is one of the best wingers the world has ever seen. He won the European Cup title with the Red Devils in 1968. He scored 9 goals in 37 appearances for Northern Ireland but they did not achieve their goal of World Cup qualification.

Northern Ireland qualified twice, once in 1982 and 1986 but Best was rather unfit, past his prime and had not earned a national cap for many years. His downfall was mainly credited to his personal life of partying and lack of fitness which is essential in today's players. He goes down in history as one of the most talented players to ever miss out on the World Cup.

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