Ferenc Puskas To Cristiano Ronaldo — Football Greats Who Never Won World Cup
FIFA World Cup: Many football icons are legends in their own right, but have not been able to etch their names on a World Cup, the biggest dream for most footballers.
Dejected Cristiano Ronaldo walked out of the Al Thumama pitch with tears rolling down his eyes on Saturday after Portugal went down fighting against Morocco 0-1. The Portugal forward, who is arguably one of the greatest footballers of this era, called the upset end of his biggest dream of winning the World Cup.
The Portuguese international, who in 22 World Cup games scored eight goals along with two assists in his five outings, is likely to hang his boots from international football. He becomes one of those legendary footballers who never won a World Cup.
While there are many great football players who are legends in their own right, winning a World Cup — one of the biggest sporting events in the globe — definitely increases their stature by several more notches. Many football icons have managed to achieve this, but there have been several other greats who couldn't etch their names on a World Cup.
5 Football Greats Who Couldn't Win World Cup
Ferenc Puskas: The legendary Hungarian, after whom FIFA named an award, is one among those greats of the sport, who couldn't get home a World Cup. He marked a mindboggling milestone by scoring 84 goals in 85 international matches for the Hungarian side. The winger powered his country to the World Cup final in 1954 but only to lose against West Germany 2-3.
Paolo Maldini: The Italian left-back is one of the most prolific players who has won all the big trophies, barring the World Cup. The defender played in four editions of the quadrennial event, but his team couldn't win the World Cup. The closest he came to winning the Cup was when Brazil defeated Italy via penalty shootouts in the 1994 World Cup final.
Eric Cantona: The French striker has arguably done one of the most controversial international exits. He left the team back in 1995 after falling out with then manager Henri Michel after the latter didn't select Cantona for international friendlies. Hosts France went on to win the World Cup in 1998 and the former Manchester United striker later complained that it was because of the manager he couldn't play for France in the showpiece event.
David Beckham: The England international is perhaps the sport's first global icon, who helped his team qualify for all the three World Cups he appeared in. In 2002 and 2006, he led the team to quarterfinals. He appeared for the national side a whopping 115 times, which was a record until 2017. The Cup, however, eluded him.
Cristiano Ronaldo: The former Manchester United forward and Portuguese giant, who got the GOAT (Greatest Of All Times) status conferred on him by several pundits and the sport's greats, has achieved several milestones but couldn't steer A Seleçãos to a World Cup triumph. His club career is one of the most talked about. Benched for most part of the game in his final two World Cup matches, Cristiano tried his best in the quarterfinal but the marvelous Moroccans outperformed the Portuguese, shattering the GOAT's all-time dream.
Top Headlines
