5 FIFA World Cup stars who prematurely retired from international football 

#4 Bert Patenaude, United States

Patenaude's (R) international career ended when he was only 20

Bert Patenaude is a name that is of utmost significance to American football and World Cup history. He represented United States at the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930 and scored a goal in their opening match against Belgium.

Then came 17th July, 1930. This was the day when USA were up against Paraguay at Montevideo. Patenaude opened the scoring in the 10th minute and doubled the score in the 15th minute. He scored a third in the 50th minute to become the first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup match. Well at least according the US Football Federation at that time. FIFA had credited the goal to Tom Florie then declared it as an own goal by Paraguayan forward Aurelio Gonzalez before finally awarding the goal to Patenaude in 2006.

Patenaude ended the tournament with 4 goals. Exactly a month after his hat-trick, he scored a brace in a 3-4 defeat to Brazil at Rio. He did not play a single match after that despite being only 20. His club career wasn’t very long either as he retired from professional football in 1936, aged 26.