5 FIFA World Cup stars who prematurely retired from international football 

#2 Salvatore Schillaci, Italy

The Golden Ball and Golden Boot winner of the 1990 FIFA World Cup played only 8 matches for Italy following the tournament

There are only two players who have won both the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot at the FIFA World Cup (Mario Kempes was the best player of the tournament in 1978 as per FIFA’s official website but the award was not introduced at the time). Both are Italians- Paolo Rossi and Salvatore Schillaci.

Schillaci got a call-up to the Italian squad for the 1990 World Cup thanks to his performances with Juventus in the Serie A. He made his World Cup debut as a 75th-minute sub in Italy’s opening match against Austria at Rome. After only three minutes, Schillaci scored the winner which was his first goal for Italy.

He started Italy’s final group game against Czechoslovakia at Rome and scored the opening goal of the match in just the 9th minute. Schillaci’s third goal of the tournament is considered to be one of the finest goals of the tournament. This was a brilliant left-footed strike against Uruguay in the last 16.

His scoring prowess persisted as he scored Italy’s winner in the quarter-finals against Ireland. He scored his 5th goal of the tournament in the semi-finals against Argentina which Italy lost on penalties. This brought him on level terms with Czechoslovakia’s Tomas Skuhravy for the Golden Boot (Golden Shoe back then).

He overtook Skuhravy by scoring the winner in the third-place play-off against England. Following the World Cup, Schillaci played a few matches for Italy during the Euro 1992 qualifiers, scoring his 7th and final international goal in a loss against Norway at Oslo. His final international game came in 1991 against Bulgaria at Sofia when he was 26. He was never called up to the national team again.

Schillaci did play club football for a few more years, retiring in 1997 in Japan.