9 Greatest Footballers Of All Time (Who Never Went To A World Cup)

The 1958 Munich air disaster will always be remembered as one of the darkest days in football history. Eight Manchester United players lost their lives, whilst two of the survivors would never play again. The team would emerge from the ashes under the management of Matt Busby, becoming the first English side to win the European Cup just ten years later.

In that team was a survivor of the crash, Bobby Charlton, who had also tasted glory with the England national team when they won the World Cup on home soil two years earlier. Perhaps most notable by his absence was a player who had been widely hailed as a future United and England stalwart before his career (and life) were brought so tragically to a halt - Duncan Edwards.

Widely regarded as the most talented of the 'Busby Babes' that were representing English football in European competition for the first time, Edwards had already amassed eighteen appearances and five goals for the national team before his twenty first birthday. Widely expected to build on that total in the-then upcoming 1958 World Cup in Sweden, Edwards was also touted as a future contender for the team's captaincy.

Sadly that was not to be. Bobby Moore would assume the role and lead England to glory on home soil, with Edwards' unrealised potential seemingly destined to always be one of football's biggest 'what ifs'