Top 10 Players To Have Never Won The World Cup

jonjoward1998
Jun 18, 2025
6 min read

We'll all be watching the World Cup this time next year when the tournament kicks off in Canada, Mexico and the USA, and many of the world's best players will be looking to get their hands on the trophy.

Many of the greatest players have got their hands on the famous trophy including Pele, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Franz Beckenbauer.

But whilst many of the greats have won it, there have also been a number of great players who haven't won it.

A lot of those players may have gone on to have great careers for both club and country by winning pretty much everything on offer or being brilliant players overall, but the trophy that they were missing and the one their careers deserved was the World Cup.

Many of those players even lit up the World Cup when they played in it including most of the players on the list.

And here is the list:

Cristiano Ronaldo

Johan Cruyff

Marco Van Basten

Paul Gascoigne

Luis Figo

Kevin De Bruyne

Luka Modric

Eusebio

Neymar

Lev Yashin

Lev Yashin

Yashin had to be in 10th simply because he's a goalkeeper and keepers are never highly ranked on any list as they don't get the credit that the attacking players do.

He was one of the greatest keepers of all-time and easily the greatest keeper of his generation because of how athletic he was and the incredible saves he pulled off. He was also the first and only keeper to win the Ballon D'or when he won the award in 1963.

He was nicknamed the black spider due to his incredible reflexes and incredible spring when going to save the ball.

He played in three World Cup's for the Soviet Union, as Russia was known as back then, with the closest he came to winning coming in 1966 when the Soviet's finished fourth.

Paul Gascoigne

I wrote about Gascoigne when I did the England top 10's where he was ranked quite high up on all of them.

But in this one he's a lot lower as he didn't have the career that the other names on the list had despite being such a gifted player.

He was a player who had many tricks up his sleeve as he was agile, quick, and incredibly well balanced. He was technically brilliant and was as good as any other player on his day.

He was an integral part of the England side that reached the semi finals at Italia 90 where he broke into tears after being booked against Germany, which meant that he was going to miss the final had England made it there. But it wasn't to be as they went out on penalties.

Luka Modric

Modric was the catalyst behind Croatia reaching the final in 2018 where he was named player of the tournament for the performances he put in at that tournament.

He also won the Ballon D'or that year with his World Cup exploits arguably being the reason behind it alongside his form for Real Madrid. His Ballon D'or win ended the Messi-Ronaldo dominance of the award.

He's still playing today at the age of 39 and is ageing like a fine wine in that he can still run games from midfield with his passing and ability to run with the ball.

He could potentially have a another chance to win the World Cup next year as he's still playing for his country. But it's unlikely as Croatia won't be among the favourites to win the tournament.

Kevin De Bruyne

De Bruyne was part of the Belgium side that finished third in 2018 which was their Golden Generation's best chance of winning a major tournament.

He's been one of if not the best midfielder in world football over the last 6 or 7 years at least because of his his ability to see a pass from almost anywhere on the pitch, and control games in midfield.

He could still win the World Cup next year which is likely to be his final tournament with Belgium, but their chances of doing that are very slim as their team is not as strong as it once was.

Luis Figo

Figo is one of the greatest players of his generation as he was quick, agile, skilful, a brilliant crosser of the ball and a player who could cut inside and score goals.

The furthest he reached at a World Cup finals was the semi finals in 2006 with Portugal in what was his final tournament with the national side.

He was named in the team of the tournament at that tournament which so far remains Portugal's best World Cup finish in the modern era.

Neymar

Neymar was seen as Brazil's new golden boy when he burst onto the scene and despite being Brazil's record goal scorer, he hasn't exactly lived up to that.

He lit up the world stage in his first World Cup in 2014 on home soil where he scored four goals. But his tournament didn't end the way he wanted it to as it ended early after he injured his back against Colombia in the Quarter Finals before Brazil were humiliated 7-1 by Germany in the semi finals.

He didn't perform at the same level at his next two World Cup's as Brazil didn't really go very far. He spent most of the 2018 edition in Russia rolling around, and was mostly injured for the 2022 edition in Qatar.

He recently returned to the Brazil squad after a year out of the side. But whether he'll be in the squad for the tournament next year remains to be seen due to the options Brazil have in the attacking areas.

Marco Van Basten

Van Basten was one of the greatest strikers of his generation as he could score pretty much any kind of goal and lots of them.

His career was unfortunately cut short due to an ankle injury he struggled to recover from which forced him to retire at the age of just 28.

A lot of people will remember him best for that volley he scored in the final of Euro 88 against the Soviet Union where he scored from a tight angle.

He only played at just one World Cup in 1990 in which he failed to score and where Dutch only made it to the round of 16.

Eusebio

Before Figo and Ronaldo, Eusebio was Portugal's footballing superstar and one of the finest players and goal scorers to ever play the game.

He was a player who was quick, agile, skilful, and someone who could score pretty much any kind of goal.

He won the golden boot at the World Cup in 1966 with nine goals, but Portugal ended up finishing third after losing to eventual winners England in the semi finals before beating the Soviet Union in the third place play-off.

Johan Cruyff

Cruyff only played at just one World Cup in 1974 which was the tournament where he invented his famous turn.

He was the star of the show at that tournament as he was named player of the tournament following some dazzling displays. But despite the dazzling performances he put in, the Dutch were beaten in the final by Germany.

He was easily the greatest player of his time as he scored many wonderful goals, and could do things that very few players could. He was also a winner of the Ballon D'or three times in 1971, 1973 and 1974 respectively.

Cristiano Ronaldo

There was only one winner of this top 10 and it had to be Ronaldo because of the player he has been and the career he has had.

The number of goals he's throughout his career is simply incredible and is still scoring at a prolific rate at the age of 40.

He's the record goal scorer in international football with 138 goals and has won three international trophies in Euro 2016, and two Nations League's in 2019 and 2025 respectively.

But as good as he's been throughout his career, he hasn't won the World Cup and in all fairness to him, the Portugal sides he has been part of were not the greatest.

The closest he got to winning it was in 2006 when Portugal reached the semi finals and since then, they haven't got anywhere near that stage as they've relied heavily on him for the majority of his international career.

He could win it next year if he's still playing for his national side and it surely has to be his last chance. But I don't see that happening as Portugal are never really fancied at any World Cup.

MY TOP 10: