Best players who never played a World Cup

Discussion in 'Soccer History' started by Baron Zbimg, Jul 2, 2015.

  1. Baron Zbimg

    Baron Zbimg Member

    Oct 28, 2012
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    Hello all,

    I'm currently creating a quiz on the best players who have never played in a World Cup.
    Obvious answers are great players from small football countries who did not qualify. Others are great players from the early XXth century. Also Argentine players from the 40's and 50's.

    I'm absolutely sure I've missed some legends, maybe even a ton of them. There are 85 players in the list, would love to have the 100 best players who never played a minute in a World Cup. All ideas are welcome. Please point out the missing legends (I've conscientiously left some early British players out because I did not want too many players that most people won't know)

    Thanks

    In no particular order (you can come up with your own for fun) :

    George Weah
    Adolfo Pedernera
    Jose Manuel Moreno
    Valentino Mazzola
    George Best
    Alfredo di Stefano
    Eduard Streltsov
    Eric Cantona
    Alberto Spencer
    Arthur Friedenreich
    Bernd Schuster
    Laszlo Kubala
    Juan Joya
    Emlyn Hughes
    Steve Bloomer
    Liam Brady
    Arsenio Erico
    Bert Trautmann
    Abedi Pelé
    Adolfo Baloncieri
    Mark Hughes
    Gunnar Nordahl
    Dudu Goergescu
    Bernabe Ferreyra
    Duncan Edwards
    Angel Labruna
    Kakhaber Kaladze
    István Nyers
    Walter Gomez
    Abe Lenstra
    Hector Rial
    Ryan Giggs
    Basile Boli
    David Kipiani
    Antonio Sastre
    Nolberto Solano
    Eidur Gudjohnsen
    Manuel Seoane
    Fernando Peyroteo
    Alex James
    Larbi ben Barek
    Bimbo Binder
    Neville Southall
    Bill Foulkes
    Jef Jurion
    Dixie Dean
    Hugo Gatti
    Jari Litmanen
    Felix Loustau
    Hughie Gallacher
    Rudi Hiden
    Kazuyoshi Miura
    Ray Clemece
    Anibal Ciocca
    Sami Hyypia
    Kalusha Bwalya
    Jim Baxter
    Americo Tesoriere
    Tommy Lawton
    José Aguas
    Ezio Loik
    John Toshack
    Quarentinha
    Dimitar Berbatov
    Ian Rush
    Japhet N'doram
    Paulino Alcantara
    David Ginola
    Laurent Pokou
    Sjaak Swart
    Roberto Porta
    Faas Wilkes
    Stan Mortensen
    Colin Todd
    René Pontoni
    Roberto Mancini
    Severino Varela
    Andrés Mazali
    Vivian Woodward
    Mario Sergio
    Marco di Vaio
    Canhoteiro
    Isidro Langara
    Nicolae Dorbin
    Kalman Konrad
     
  2. msioux75

    msioux75 Member+

    Jan 8, 2006
    Lima, Peru
    Very nice list :cool:

    For Perú, I missed the two most prominent names:
    Teodoro "Lolo" Fernández - 30s
    Alberto Terry - 50s
     
  3. Baron Zbimg

    Baron Zbimg Member

    Oct 28, 2012
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    Thanks a lot for the 2 Peruvians. I definitely missed Lolo Fernandez, while I thought of Terry as "second tier" but I think I'm wrong, and there are a lot of "second tier" players in this list anyway.
    Should I have posted this in Players & Legends ? Maybe I'd get more replies ?
     
    msioux75 repped this.
  4. comme

    comme Moderator
    Staff Member

    Feb 21, 2003
    #4 comme, Jul 3, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2015
    Billy Meredith
    Jimmy Johnstone
    Dean Saunders
    Angelo Peruzzi
    Neil Franklin
    John Giles
    Charlie Hurley
    Carlos Bianchi
    Delio Onnis
    Fleury Di Nallo
    Fernando Chalana
    Alberto Costa Pereira
     
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  5. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Also Julio Melendez?
     
    msioux75 repped this.
  6. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Maybe Karl Aage Praest - I noticed this nice video recently:


    Some ideas from the Premier League:
    Andrei Kanchelskis
    Gary McAllister (didn't play a minute in 1990)
    Gareth Bale
    Georgi Kinkladze
    Matt Le Tissier
     
    Tom Stevens repped this.
  7. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Another video for another left winger - Coen Moulijn:
     
  8. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Pepe of Brazil and Santos would be another left-winger too, as he didn't play any minutes in World Cups.
     
  9. wm442433

    wm442433 Member+

    Sep 19, 2014
    Club:
    FC Nantes
    Steve Heighway.
     
  10. wm442433

    wm442433 Member+

    Sep 19, 2014
    Club:
    FC Nantes
  11. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    #11 PDG1978, Jul 4, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2015
    You beat me by one!


    These are the 13 I didn't get in time:
    Players (open)

    The ones I could have got, either by guessing/remembering the name or from the clubs....
    Wayne Rooney
    Danny Blanchflower
    Terry Cooper (maybe he should be in the list below but I know his name well)
    John Greig
    Norman Whiteside
    Gordon McQueen (see Cooper)
    Ally McCoist
    Andy Cole (not sure I'd have guessed/remembered he got votes though)

    The ones whose names I'll have seen in the Ballon d'Or lists but wouldn't have got.....
    Colin McDonald
    Bobby Smith
    Ken Jones
    Ivor Allchurch (know the name well enough but didn't get it in my head when I saw Swansea, Cardiff)
    Jimmy McIllroy
     
  12. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Just reminded myself of yet another winger (this time right side, like Kanchelskis) after I posted the Norway vs Italy goals from 1991 (he got an assist):
    Attilio Lombardo.
     
  13. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    This seems like I'm mainly mentioning wingers, mostly left wingers still!
    To add to Heighway, other Liverpool examples could be Billy Liddell and Peter Thompson I think.
     
  14. wm442433

    wm442433 Member+

    Sep 19, 2014
    Club:
    FC Nantes
    #14 wm442433, Jul 4, 2015
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2015
    Mine:

    Show Spoiler
    edwards chivers gregg taylor mcdonald brooking mcdermott greig carragher pallister reid ray kennedy

    Maybe it would have been better if I had not played this a 4.00 a.m (yes, I'm at finding excuses).
    Now, for the GK of Scunthorpe Utd, I admit I typed "Brown", "Jones" and "Smith" so I had Bobby Smith. Maybe I would have found out the latter due to his club and position, maybe not.



    Now, another proposal: Mehmet Scholl.
    Some other proposals: Joseph Ujlaki, Thadée Cisowski (injured in '58), Ole Madsen, John Hansen, Jean Baratte, Georges Bereta, Roger Magnusson, Salif Keita, Wynton Rufer, Aulis Rytkönen, Raich Carter, Alex James, Henry Carlsson, Torjbörn Nilsson, Gil Rui Barros (de Barros), Dirceu Lopes, Evaristo, Dorval , Hatzipanagis, Adrian Mutu.
     
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  15. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    I'd try to call it a draw after that info but think you deserve the extra point for the clever tactics! Typing one answer also gives another one too of course (on one occasion, if not more).
     
    wm442433 repped this.
  16. msioux75

    msioux75 Member+

    Jan 8, 2006
    Lima, Peru
    Since any chilean footballer was named. My candidates are:
    Sergio Livingstone - keeper - 40s
    Enrique Hormazábal - forward - 50s
    Raúl Toro - forward - 30s
     
  17. Gregoriak

    Gregoriak BigSoccer Supporter

    Feb 27, 2002
    Munich
    Wynton Rufer did play in the 1982 World Cup didn't he?
     
  18. PDG1978

    PDG1978 Member+

    Mar 8, 2009
    Club:
    Nottingham Forest FC
    Perhaps Tom Lund and/or Heinz Hermann.
     
  19. wm442433

    wm442433 Member+

    Sep 19, 2014
    Club:
    FC Nantes
    Ah yes, this is true.
     
  20. Baron Zbimg

    Baron Zbimg Member

    Oct 28, 2012
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    Thanks you guys for all the great replys. I knew I would forget some obvious ones, and I did ! Johnny Giles, Johnstone, Hansen or Neil Franklin just to name a few. And there are some great ideas here as well.

    I'm a bit shocked by Julio Melendez as I assumed he played in 1970. He wasn't selected because he was playing for Boca ? He'll make it to the list for sure.

    I'm also very happy you enjoyed the quiz on the Brits at the Ballon d'Or. For quiz lovers, you can definitely check my profile on Sporcle, there are plenty of nice and challenging football quizzes for all of you.

    Any other ideas or obvious misses ? Thanks a lot for your help !!!
     
  21. Baron Zbimg

    Baron Zbimg Member

    Oct 28, 2012
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    A quick update : I've added some of the names above, and also a few more : Jocelyn Angloma, Franck Sauzée, Joao Domingos Pinto, Eddie Hapgood, Dudu Georgescu, Bruce Grobbelaar, Antonio Cassano, Dimitar Berbatov, Cristian Chivu, Andy Cole and Freddi Kanoute.

    I'll post a link to the quiz when it's up.
     
  22. Baron Zbimg

    Baron Zbimg Member

    Oct 28, 2012
    Club:
    Juventus FC
  23. Excape Goat

    Excape Goat Member+

    Mar 18, 1999
    Club:
    Real Madrid
    Bert Trautmann
    Tony Yeboah
    Omar Sivori(?).
    Fernando Peyroteo
    Litmannen
    Jomo Sono
     
  24. msioux75

    msioux75 Member+

    Jan 8, 2006
    Lima, Peru
    Sívori played in Chile 1962 for Italy

    His CA'57 partner, Antonio Angelillo, missed WC.
    Also other 1950s players as Ernesto Grillo, Rogelio Dominguez, Tito Cuchiarioni and Francisco Loiacono.
     
  25. Baron Zbimg

    Baron Zbimg Member

    Oct 28, 2012
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    Angelillo would have been a great addition, Trautmann, yeboah, Peyroteo and Litmanen are all in the quiz, while Sivori did indeed play for Italy in 1962.
     

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