The World Cup is the pinnacle of football on the international stage, but there have been great Manchester United players who never played in the competition for multiple reasons.
While only five Manchester United players won the World Cup during their time at the club, a talented list of legends never featured in football’s biggest international tournament exists.
Certain players always had the odds against them, given the standard of their national teams. Others were victims of failed qualification campaigns.
The following five United legends never graced the biggest stage for their countries.
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George Best
Northern Ireland have qualified for a total of three World Cups, but none of them coincided with their greatest-ever footballer.
George Best was 12 years old in 1958 when Northern Ireland qualified for their first World Cup.
In the 80s, when Northern Ireland qualified for the World Cup for a second and third time, Best was winding down his career.
Best is the only player on this list to win a Ballon d’Or.
Ryan Giggs
As the most decorated footballer in English football history, winning 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League triumphs with United, Ryan Giggs experienced multiple failed attempts to qualify for a major tournament with Wales.
Giggs still went on to become a legend for the Wales national team and previously held the role of manager.
The World Cup will forever be a ‘what if’ story for Best and Giggs.
Eric Cantona
Unlike Best and Giggs, Eric Cantona didn’t suffer from playing for a minnow nation.
France failed to qualify for Italia ’90 and USA ’94, but that didn’t stop them from winning the World Cup on home soil in 1998.
Cantona was France’s captain under Aimé Jacquet, but fell out of favour and missed the European Championships in 1996 following his long suspension for kicking that Crystal Palace supporter.
Duncan Edwards
Undoubtedly the most tragic entry on this list.
Duncan Edwards earned 18 caps for England and helped United to two league titles by the age of 21.
The versatile United starlet was a certainty to be involved in the 1958 World Cup until he lost his life in the aftermath of the Munich Air Disaster.
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Man Utd had a Ballon d'Or winner who never played at a World Cup.
Andy Cole
Despite being one of the most lethal strikers in Premier League history, Andy Cole only managed 15 caps for England and never went to a World Cup.
There was a ridiculous narrative in the late 90s that Cole wasn’t an international standard goalscorer due to criticisms from Glen Hoddle.
Injuries would stand in the way of Cole in 2002, but he was criminally underappreciated in the England national team.
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