For any professional footballer, the ultimate ambition is winning the World Cup for their country, but in reality very few are fortunate to actually realise such a dream. After all, the tournament only comes around once every four years, and there has only been 21 winning teams in history, so there will always be a massive percentage of disappointed players. Welsh fans would like to see Ryan Giggs lifting the trophy in the past, but he is in the group of players that did not make it. Punters can bet on players and their teams that still have the chance to do so. And usually, bookmakers offer fair odds for the favourites. Players can use promo codes for these kind of bets as well. You can find them for almost every brand in the world and the Bet365 bonus code we can use as an example of it.
Online bookmakers would never offer World Cup betting tips and odds for individual players to get a World Cup winners medal, they are not the sort of football betting predictions that appeal too much to punters. Over the years some of the finest players to have ever played the game have ended their careers without that winners medal, and all their other achievements never really compensate.
Here are some of the best to miss out on a medal:
George Best
This immensely talented Northern Irishman was, on his day, as good as any player in world football, winning the 1968 Ballon d’Or; but unfortunately his international team never had enough squad quality to qualify for the World Cup during his prime. Sadly he was something of a troubled soul and had his demons, so when Northern Ireland did make it through to the 1982 finals, Best missed out, not that his team were ever likely to make it all the way.
Eusabio
This Portuguese scoring machine was a real superstar of the sixties and seventies. He only played in one tournament, finishing as top scorer in England in 1966, with nine goals. Portugal lost to the host nation at the Semi-Final stage and unfortunately that was that for him, he would never get another opportunity to showcase his remarkable eye for goal, on the biggest stage of all.
Eric Cantana
Cantana was a real character, adored by his club supporters, but never quite as much on the international stage. He played with a real swagger and would have lit up any World Cup final. Sadly his temperament was his ultimate downfall and he often fell out with his French coaches. He had been captain until his moment of madness whilst playing for Manchester United when he attacked a fan of Crystal Palace. He lost his place in the French squad, and ultimately lost interest in the game, retiring in 1997 at the age of 30. Just one year later France won the World Cup on home soil.
Zico
It is hard to believe any of the leading Brazilian players of recent generations failed to win a World Cup medal, such is their dominance of the competition. However, they failed to make an impact throughout the eighties, when they had excellent individuals, but not a cohesive team. Zico was an immensely talented member of one of their disjointed teams, providing much of the creative flair, to go with a strike rate of two goals every three matches. He would walk into any of the winning Brazilian teams of recent years, but sadly never had the chance to play for a medal himself.
Duncan Edwards
There has been some fabulous England players over the past few decades who have missed out on the opportunity to grab a World Cup medal, but possibly the greatest of them all comes from a generation not really known to many. Duncan Edwards was tipped to become the finest player in world football and destined to be England captain, when he tragically lost his life in the Munich Air Disaster of 1958. It has been said his death was the biggest single tragedy ever to happen to Manchester United and England. He was only 21 years old so would have been an absolute certainty for their success in 1966; indeed it probably would have been him accepting the trophy from Her Majesty the Queen, rather than Bobby Moore.
Cristiano Ronaldo
He has won pretty much everything there is to win in football, and many times over. His goalscoring record is phenomenal, but Ronaldo will very likely end his career very soon, without the one medal he undoubtedly craved. His Portugal side have threatened on several occasions in the past decade or so to go all the way, but they consistently seemed to come up just short. He seems likely to be regarded as one of the very best players never to win a World Cup medal.
There will be many others, past, present, and future in the same position, which should make the lucky ones who do, appreciate the fact all the more. With the next tournament just around the corner, the Johnnybet community of tipsters, will very likely be able to point punters in the direction of a good World Cup bet, with regards to the next major player to miss out.
