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The 2018 World Cup fever is beginning to catch up to all of us after the group stage draws were revealed almost a couple of weeks ago.
It threw up quite a few tantalising fixtures: Spain vs Portugal and England vs Belgium to name a few.
Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will be eager to add the one international trophy missing from their cabinets, and it might well be the last World Cup for both these modern legends.
That makes Russia 2018 a special event for all football fans, as the prestigious tournament prepares to bid adieu to two of its most special players of this century.
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But they aren't the only legends in the history of the sport to have missed out on FIFA's blockbuster quadrennial event. The World Cup's format is an unforgiving one - while it might be entertaining for fans, its cruel for the players.
Here, we take a look at the greatest all-time XI of legends who haven't won the World Cup:
GK: Lev Yashin (Soviet Union)
To date, the only goalkeeper to have won the Ballon d'Or. True, more importance is given to midfielders and forwards these days, but being voted the best player in Europe ahead of Gianni Rivera and Jimmy Greaves is no mean feat.
Nicknamed the "Black Panther", Yashin played for Dynamo Moscow throughout his career, with whom he won five league titles.
He couldn't lead the Soviet Union to a World Cup victory (they came fourth in 1966), but he did win the European Championships in 1960.
RB: Dani Alves (Brazil)
The Brazilian legend is one of the best attacking fullbacks the sport has ever seen.
He played for Sevilla till the age of 25, but spent the most productive years of his career between 2008 and 2016 at Barcelona, where he was a part of Pep Guardiola's legendary team that won 14 trophies in 4 seasons.
Alves has 104 caps for Brazil, but the only major international trophy he has won is the FIFA Confederations Cup, in 2009 and 2013.
He participated in both the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, but the closest he ever came is the semifinal in 2014, which culminated in the 7-1 humiliation at the hands of eventual champions Germany.
CB: Ronald Koeman (Netherlands)
Koeman is the highest scoring defender of all time, with a total of 239 goals in 685 club career games.
Renowned for his composure on the ball and free kick taking abilities, he made 78 appearances for Netherlands in 12 years. He never came close to winning the World Cup though, but he won the Euros in 1988.
His management career took him to Ajax, Benfica, Southampton and Everton. Although he was sacked by the Toffees earlier this season, Koeman is one of those select few who experienced considerable success as both player and manager.
CB: Paulo Maldini (Italy)
Maldini is widely regarded as one of the best left-backs of all time, but he was equally capable of playing as a centre-back.
A product of AC Milan's famous generation of ball playing defenders, Maldini never left his boyhood club in a career spanning 25 seasons and 23 major honours.
It's almost cruel that one of Italy's best ever defenders never won the World Cup (or any other international trophy). He came agonisingly close in 1990 and 1994, finishing third and second respectively.
In spite of having 126 caps for Italy, he had to retire after the 2002 World Cup at the age of 34, which meant he couldn't be a part of Italy's victorious campaign in 2006.
LB: Ashley Cole (England)
Cole graduated from Arsenal and became a key player for them before moving to fierce rivals Chelsea.
Although he loved getting forward to support the attack, Cole gradually adapted his game to become more defensive during Jose Mourinho's first stint at Chelsea.
He is widely considered as one of the best left-backs of this century in the Premier League, and was also a part of England's golden generation that had David Beckham, Steven Gerard, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes and John Terry.
But the national team's difficulties in the 2000s meant that England never really made a major impact in any tournament during that time.
CDM: Claude Makelele (France)
You have to be pretty special if you have a position named after you.
Makelele revolutionised the defensive midfield role at his peak when he played a major role in Real Madrid and Chelsea's success between 2000 and 2008.
Although he made his international debut for France in 1995, he wasn't selected to be in the squad during the national team's successful campaigns at the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 Euros.
His first major tournament was the 2002 World Cup. Although he retired from international football in 2004, the French football federation convinced him to make a comeback for the 2006 World Cup, where, unfortunately, his inspirational performances weren't enough to carry France over the line as they lost the infamous final to Italy after Zidane's headbutt on Materazzi.
CM: Michel Platini (France)
The charges of corruption against him in recent years along with former FIFA President Sepp Blatter may be a blight on his record, but there can be no denying that Platini is one of the greatest creative midfielders of all time.
Although he joined Juventus only at the age of 27, the extraordinary success he experienced with the Turin giants, combined with his own personal form earned him three consecutive Ballon d'Or awards between 1983 and 1985. That is an achievement which has, to this day, only been matched by Messi.
Renowned for his passing, vision and setpiece abilities, Platini was also a remarkably prolific goalscorer for a midfielder, scoring 41 goals in 72 caps for France.
He did win the Euros with France, but the closest he came to a World Cup win was fourth and third place finishes in 1982 and 1986.
CM: Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
Cruyff experienced tremendous success during a career in playing and management from 1964 to 1996, and he is perhaps the single biggest reason that Barcelona is the club that it is today.
Cruyff both personalised and revolutionised the concept of "Total Football", as he led Ajax as a player, and later Barcelona as a coach, to the most successful periods in the histories of the respective clubs.
He led the Dutch national team's golden generation at the 1974 World Cup, where the Oranje faced almost no difficulties until the final. In the Munich final though, a tactical masterclass led by Franz Beckenbauer helped the Germans come from a goal down to win 2-1.
RW: Leo Messi (Argentina)
So far, the World Cup is the one elusive trophy missing from the little magician's enormous collection.
Messi might be the greatest player in Barcelona's history, indeed the greatest player to have ever graced a football pitch, but to the Argentinians, he will forever be in Diego Maradona's shadow because of one incomplete piece of the puzzle.
His die-hard fans can claim that it was Higuain's fault all they want, but the fact is, Messi has shown himself capable of inhuman things several times in the past, and the footballing world will forever be in his debt. Against Germany in the 2014 final, he simply didn't have any tricks left in the bag.
2018 will be his last shot at glory, and if there's one thing Messi has taught us in his glorious career so far, it is that you should never write him off.
LW: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Ronaldo has already won the Euros, and that is an accomplishment that should be given its due credit, considering that Portugal were one of the last teams anyone presumed to make the finals, let alone beat an insanely talented French squad.
But the World Cup is the World Cup, and you can bet your house that Cristiano won't be content without winning it before retiring.
He's well into his thirties, and as much as he continues to baffle us with his incredible goalscoring exploits at the age of 32, it's hard to see him leading Portugal into the 2022 World Cup at the age of 37.
With Argentina and Portugal drawn in groups B and D, is it possible to see a Messi vs Ronaldo final in Moscow?
ST: Ferenc Puskas (Hungary)
Every year, the scorer of "the most beautiful goal" in world football is given the FIFA Puskas Award. That's how synonymous Ferenc Puskas is with goalscoring.
Puskas is the second highest international goalscorer of all time. Now, that might not seem like much, but consider this: he scored 84 goals in 85 appearances for Hungary.
That's not all - in a career spanning 24 seasons, he's scored 622 goals in 629 club appearances. With Real Madrid, he won the league five consecutive times between 1961 and 1965.
The Hungary national team hit its peak during the '50s and '60s, which included a run of 32 games unbeaten. That team was called the "Mighty Magyars", and they even reached the final of the 1954 World Cup.
In what is perhaps the most entertaining World Cup final to date, the Hungarians were 2-0 up against West Germany inside 8 minutes, but ended up blowing the lead to agonisingly lose 3-2.
Puskas might not have achieved much in terms of trophies for Hungary, but his record speaks for itself.
