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The FIFA World Cup is the greatest sporting event in the world. Held in an interval of 4 years, the tournament involves approximately 211 countries who compete for a place in the final 32 or 48 as it has now been extended to.
The tournament was first started in 1930 and is currently 88 years old. The FIFA World Cup involves two stages, the qualifying stage where countries all over the world compete over a span of 3 years and the World Cup Finals, where the final qualified teams compete for the ultimate sporting prize.
The FIFA World Cup is the greatest test of a player’s abilities and those who are fortunate to lift it can claim to be the best in the world. The World Cup has been the stomping ground of many stalwarts of the football world, however, there are a few legends of the game who unfortunately never made it to the final stages.
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We look at 4 such great players who achieved legendary status at Manchester United, yet never played in the FIFA World Cups:
#4 Eric Cantona
The King of Old Trafford is often considered to be the player who changed the fortunes of Manchester United. When he joined United from bitter rivals Leeds United in November 1992, the Red Devils were 10th in the Premier League and looked a long way off the top of the table. However, Cantona’s arrival kick-started a revolution at Old Trafford, where United lost just 2 games in the League, since his joining, to become the first Premier League Champions.
At Leeds United, Cantona won the last Football League First Division Trophy and an FA Community Shield. At United, Cantona won 4 Premier League Trophies, 2 FA Cups and 3 FA Charity Shield. He scored 70 goals from 156 games in the Premier League and retired with 165 career club goals from 440 games, however, Cantona never played in the World Cup with his country France.
He scored 20 goals from 45 games for France, however, narrowly missed out on qualification to the 1994 World Cup. During the qualification stages of the Euro 1996, Cantona was the Captain of the France team, however, the infamous kung-fu kick incident at Selhurst Park led to his ban and lengthy separation from the International team.
By the time his ban was over, a certain Zinedine Zidane had taken over his position in the team and Cantona never made the squad to Euro 1996. He continued to be ignored for the country squad, even though he was firing up the Premier League with United. The legendary Frenchman retired at the end of the 1996/97 season and never got the chance to represent his country next year, as France hosted and won the 1998 World Cup.
#3 Duncan Edwards
"A day of memory, Sad to recall, Without farewell, He left us all" - the Tombstone said.
The story of Duncan Edwards always brings a tear to the eye. Billed as the next great thing in the world of football, Edwards signed with Manchester United as a teenager and rose through the ranks at Old Trafford under Sir Matt Busby, going on to become the youngest player to play in the Old First Division.
Once ranked as one of the toughest players in the World, Edwards was already world class at a very young age. Even though he was basically a defensive midfielder, Edwards could operate in many different positions, a versatility that was one of his assets. He was equally apt at using both feet, had a ferocious shot in him and was quite good with his headers as well.
Duncan Edwards played 177 matches for Manchester United, scoring 21 goals. He won two back to back first division titles and two FA Charity Shields and had so much more to achieve before his precious life was snatched away well ahead of time.
Edwards played 18 games for England, scoring 5 goals and was even involved in the qualifiers of the 1958 World Cup. He was gradually becoming the leader of both the England and Manchester United team when the ill-fated tragedy stuck at Munich on 6th February 1958. He fought on for two more weeks at the hospital, but succumbed to his injuries, just 21 years old.
Duncan Edwards could never appear in the World Cup and the tournament and the world was deprived of potentially one of its greatest players ever.
#2 Ryan Giggs
Ryan Giggs will tear you apart, they said, and Giggs certainly tore apart his opposition during his playing career in the colours of Manchester United. The most decorated player in the world, Ryan Giggs won a record 13 Premier League titles – he was a part of every Title winning Manchester United team in the Premier League era! The Welshman also won 4 FA Cups, 3 League Cups, 9 Community Shields, 2 Champions League titles, 1 Intercontinental Cup, 1 UEFA Super Cup and 1 FIFA Club World Cup. He appeared a record 963 times for Manchester United in his career, scoring 168 goals and was one of the finest footballers in the world.
Few men could instill fear into the opposition defenders as Ryan Giggs throughout his career, yet it was a pity that one of the best left wingers in the world never appeared in the FIFA World Cup. Giggs played 64 games for the Wales Team, scored 12 goals and came close to qualifying for the Euro 1992, but in the end, it was Germany who qualified at the expense of Wales. Even though Giggs was a part of the World Cup Qualifying campaigns in numerous occasions, Wales could never qualify for the FIFA World Cup and the tournament could never witness Ryan Giggs, running down the wings.
As of now, Giggs is the manager of the Wales Team, a job his took at the start of the year. Hopefully, the Welsh wizard will finally be able to achieve something that eluded him as a player – taking Wales to the FIFA World Cup.
#1 George Best
“Pele Good, Maradona Great, George Best” – a saying in Belfast.
Like Maradona, Best could do things with the ball that few footballers could even dream of. A Ballon d’Or winner in 1968, the Irishman played for 11 seasons at Old Trafford from 1963 to 1974, where he scored 181 goals from 474 appearances. He won the FA youth cup, 2 Football League First Division trophies, 2 Charity Shields and the fabled European Cup of 1968.
He was a highly efficient dribbler and had the poise and charisma on the field that made him immensely popular. He was a part of the Holy Trinity of Best-Law-Charlton that took Manchester United to unprecedented heights.
He played 37 times for the Northern Ireland team, scoring 9 goals, but never played in the World Cup. Northern Ireland did make it to the 1982 World Cup, but Best, who was 36 years old and had not featured for 5 years in his national team, did not make the squad.
Best later said in an interview that he wished that Billy Bingham, the Northern Ireland Manager at that time, had taken him just as a squad member and given him just 15 minutes on the pitch so that he could have played in a World Cup.
George Best certainly is one of the greatest players, not just of Manchester United, but in the world who never played in the World Cup.
