5 stars who have won the Ballon d'Or but not the World Cup

#3 Marco van Basten

Euro 1988 - Ireland v the Netherlands

Ah, the Dutch. Sublime yet cocky, skilful yet conflicted. More than four decades have passed since Johan Cruyff and co. set Germany on fire. Despite being the favourites in the final, they messed it up and will only be remembered as the greatest team not to win the FIFA World Cup.

A couple of decades later, they had another team brimming with talent but inevitably, as the story is with the Dutch side, they have only themselves to blame.

Marco van Basten was one of the stars who could do nothing wrong. He was unstoppable at club and international level and boy was he skilful. Despite his height and build, he could mesmerise the crowd with his close control and his finishing is something that modern-day forwards can dream of.

Part of Arrigo Sacchi’s incredible Milan side of the late ‘80s, van Basten scored 90 goals in 147 appearances. He won the Ballon d’Or in 1988 and 1989 for his performances. The 1988 win was perhaps a bit more special considering he beat competition from the likes of Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard to lift the famous accolade.

His goals tally could have been a lot more had his career not ended prematurely due to persistent ankle injuries.

Van Basten featured in the 1990 World Cup but the Dutch team were beaten by West Germany, again, in the round of 16.