4 Manchester United legends who never played in the 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.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written close to 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Sripad