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The World Cup is the biggest competition that is available in football. A storied competition which cuts through the mainstream and into the public domain, the FIFA World Cup touts lineage and prestige in abundance. The iconic competition is said to be the pinnacle of football, as people from all faiths and backgrounds watch football at least once every four years, while they cheer on their adopted nation towards victory.
If the World Cup is the grandest stage, then some of the greatest players in the history of the sport have shone brighter than ever. Pele, Garrincha, Maradona, Ronaldo, Franz Beckenbauer, Bobby Moore, Zinedine Zidane etc. Some of the future greats too, have already made an impact on the tournament in the form of the young core that helped France win the 2018 World Cup, led by the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Paul Pogba.
For all the greats that have won it, there are some astoundingly talented players to have never won it. This list will look at 5 of those players that have never won the World Cup, even though some of them came agonizingly close.
#5 Zico
Country: Brazil
World Cups played: 1978, 1982 and 1986
Best finish: Third place, 1978
Zico is oft remembered as the shining light of one of the best Brazilian teams in the history of the world cup. While any one of the players from that team could take the fifth spot here, we award it to Zico, as he was considered to be the best out of the lot at the time. His generation came after the glory days of Pele, who had called time on his international career after the 1970 World Cup, in which the team was victorious.
The team in 1970 was considered one of the greatest teams ever, up until the team that came in 1982 who challenged for that title. Zico had Socrates, Eder, Falcao etc. by his side as he led tournament favourites Brazil into the tournament, but he sadly didn't get far in the tournament, being eliminated by Italy in just the second round.
In his three attempts, Zico failed to win the World Cup despite everyone considering him and his team to be the favourites. He never bettered his third-place finish from the '78 Cup.
#4 Eusebio
Country: Portugal
World Cups played: 1966
Best finish: Third place, 1966
Before the world was raving about a Portuguese attacker named Cristiano Ronaldo, it was fairly assumed that no Portuguese player will ever be considered better than Eusebio. One of the most legendary players that the sport has ever seen, Eusebio is a former Ballon d'Or winner. He played in just one World Cup but left a mark as he ended the cup as top scorer with 9 goals.
Eusebio was a part of the Portuguese team that weren't necessarily fancied to get out of the group stage, as they had to contest with a Brazil team that had won the previous two cups, and the always dangerous Hungarians.
They won every match in their group and eliminated favourites Brazil to move into the latter stages. They rode their momentum until the semi-finals, where eventual winners, England eliminated them. They beat Germany for third place, but this would be the only World Cup that the great Eusebio would play. It is a shame that a player of his calibre could never win this competition.
#3 Johan Cruyff
Country: Netherlands
World Cups played: 1974
Best finish: Second place, 1974
Another iconic player to have had a shot at the cup once, but failed to be victorious is Johan Cruyff. Better in Eusebio's third-place finish from 1966, Cruyff and the Netherlands team that revolutionized football failed to brush past the Germans in the 1974 World Cup. The three-time Ballon d'Or winner was the biggest star at the cup and was one of the finest players of his generation, but can never claim to have lifted the World Cup.
Cruyff's Netherlands team eliminated 1970 World Cup champions, Brazil in the second round to make it to the finals, while quietly winning over the world with their amazing brand of football. Total Football was there for everyone to see in 1974, and it worked well enough to eliminate a Brazil team that was moving into their post-Pele era.
Cruyff especially was in gifted form, debuting the world famous Cruyff Turn in this tournament, but Franz Beckenbauer's Germany was too much for his team to beat. An iconic footballer and manager, it is a shame Cruyff could never win this tournament as it is one of the only accomplishments missing from his resume.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo
Country: Portugal
World Cups played: 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018
Best finish: Fourth place, 2006
One of the greatest players of the current generation and possibly ever, Cristiano Ronaldo is a serial winner. Having won the UEFA Champions League 5 times, and even the UEFA Euro in 2016, it would be a safe assumption to say that Ronaldo knows how to win and has always had a quality group of players surround him, be it at club level or internationally. Despite this, he has never found success at the World Cup.
His best finish came at the 2006 World Cup, when he still was finding his footing as the player he is today. He scored just one goal in Portugal's semi-final run. 2010 saw disappointment too, as they were eliminated in the Round of 16 at the hands of eventual champions, Spain.
Standing far and ahead of everyone as Portugal's leader in 2014, they scraped past Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Sweden to make it into the World Cup, where they were shockingly eliminated in the group stage by champions Germany and the USA.
Despite putting on a masterclass in the 2018 World Cup, Ronaldo's Portugal fell short again, as an Edinson Cavani brace sent them packing in the RO16. Ronaldo has scored in every World Cup he has played and has been one of the best for as long as he played. he is easily one of the greatest, if not the greatest man to never lift the World Cup.
#1 Lionel Messi
Country: Argentina
World Cups played: 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018
Best finish: Second place, 2014
The best player at the 2014 World Cup and the five-time Ballon d'Or winner stands in a curious position internationally. While he has always been a firecracker for Argentina, his team has never won anything substantial.
His 65 goals for the national team shows that he has given the output, but has never received the support required for international glory. Nonetheless, it is a relatively easy argument to make for Messi to be one of the greats of all time and certainly the greatest to have never won the World Cup.
Lionel Messi was a breath away from glory in 2014, but a Mario Gotze goal ended his dream of being a World Cup champion in extra time. Having played the same amount of World Cups as his greatest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi has fared better than his Portuguese counterpart.
His 2014 run was heartbreaking, but they were tasked to beat one of the greatest World Cup team of all time in the 2014 Germany squad. Germany ended his World Cup dream four years prior in 2010 too, as Argentina were hammered 4-0 in the quarters.
A listless Messi and Argentina couldn't limp past 2018 champions France in the R016 in the latest edition either. Despite those losses, Messi has firmly established himself as one of the greatest and even has a World Cup golden ball lining his trophy case, thus making his case as one of the greatest men to never won the world cup even stronger.
