4 Manchester United legends who never played in the World Cup

#1 George Best

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.