Best players never to play in a World Cup

George Best
Northern Ireland, 1964-77
37 caps, nine goals

He was arguably the greatest British footballer to ever live, but George Best never made it to the World Cup finals with Northern Ireland.

Best reached legendary status with Manchester United, scoring 138 goals and being named European Player of the Year in 1968.

By the time Northern Ireland finally qualified for the Cup in 1982, Best's problems with alcohol abuse had ended any chances he would play on the world's greatest stage.

Alfredo Di Stefano
Argentina: 1947-49; Colombia: 1949-54; Spain: 1954-61.
41 caps, 29 goals

Di Stefano is considered alongside the likes of Pele, Maradona and Cruyff as one of football's greatest ever players.

Yet despite starring for the great Real Madrid side of the 1950s and playing with three proud footballing nations, di Stefano never reached the pinnacle of international football.

The Argentine-born attacking midfielder missed the 1950 Cup with the country of his birth, then, after a brief stint with the Colombian national team, he was not allowed to represent Spain at the Cup in 1954.

Di Stefano became a Spanish citizen two years later, but Spain missed the 1958 Cup. He led the team through qualifying in 1962, only to miss the World Cup with injury.

Eric Cantona
France, 1987-95
45 caps, 20 goals

He was a magician on the field - and inspired millions of kids to play football with their collars up - but Cantona was also a constant source of controversy for French football officials.

Despite playing for one of football's most powerful national teams, he managed to miss out on the World Cup thanks to run-ins with the coach and an early retirement.

Cantona was left out of Italia 1990 due to a fall-out with coach Henri Michel, and was part of the French squad that spectacularly missed out on qualifying for USA '94, despite needing just two points in their final two qualifiers against Israel and Bulgaria.

After attracting more controversy and an eight-month ban for kicking a fan while playing for Manchester United in 1995, Cantona retired from professional football in 1997, aged just 30.

By that stage he had been replaced as France's main playmaker by a younger footballing genius - Zinedine Zidane.

Cantona was included in the English Football Hall of Fame, and he did eventually make it to the World Cup - the Beach Soccer World Cup - as coach from 2005 to 2008.

Duncan Edwards
England, 1955-58
18 caps, five goals

One of the Manchester United Busby's Babes killed in the tragic Munich Air Disaster in 1958, Duncan Edwards made his first division debut at age 16 and was considered by some as the best player of all time.

Teammate Sir Bobby Charlton described Edwards as a far better player than himself, and said the winger would surely have been captain of England's 1966 World Cup-winning side.

Edwards played in England's qualifying campaign for the 1958 World Cup in Sweden but was killed before the Cup began, aged just 21.

Ryan Giggs
Wales, 1991-2007
64 caps, 12 goals

One of the great modern wingers, Giggs has enjoyed a stellar career at club level with Manchester United but never reached the World Cup with international minnows Wales.

He has 10 Premier League titles to his name, plus four FA Cups, three Champions League titles, to go with a PFA Player of the Year award in 2009 and an induction into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

A hugely popular player, Giggs has remarkably never been sent off in 20 seasons with Manchester United.

He is also known for scoring this incredible goal against Arsenal in the 1999 FA Cup semi-final.

George Weah
Liberia, 1988-2002
60 caps, 22 goals

The powerful striker dominated defences in the mid-1990s, winning the World, European and African Player of the Year awards in 1995.

He remains the only African to be named FIFA Player of the Year, and the only player to win that award without playing in a World Cup final.

He starred with European giants AC Milan and also represented AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain, but was never able to take his national team to the World Cup - despite bankrolling and later coaching the national team himself.

Weah was voted the African Player of the Century in 1998, and went into politics in his native Liberia following his retirement from football.

Check out this length-of-the-field run from Weah's time at Milan.

Ian Rush
Wales, 1980-96
73 caps, 28 goals

Rush is the greatest goal scorer in Liverpool's history, notching 346 goals while winning five league titles and a European Cup with the club.

He is also the all-time leading scorer for Wales, but, like Ryan Giggs, was never given the chance to shine on the world stage.

Rush was named the Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year in 1983, and a year later took out the Players' Player of the Year, Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year and European Golden Boot awards.