The 21 best men's soccer players never to win the World Cup

Milla is notable for being the oldest player to score a goal in the World Cup when he found the back of the net against Russia in 1994 at the age of 42. However, the Cameroonian is so much more than that. In 2007, the Confederation of African Football named him the best African player of the prior 50 years.

Nobody loves Zlatan more than Zlatan, but he's earned the right to toot his own horn. He's plied his trade for a who's who of European sides: Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, A.C. Milan, PSG and Manchester United. Ibrahimovic also has netted 62 goals for his native Sweden, but unfortunately there was never enough talent around him to make winning a World Cup a possibility.

Cantona is perhaps best remembered for kicking a fan, a moment that his career never recovered from, especially internationally. However, he remains a Manchester United and French legend. Unfortunately for Cantona, Zidane came around and usurped his role for France and then proceeded to lead country to a World Cup in 1998, an event Cantona was not a part of.

Liverpool is one of the most prestigious clubs in all of soccer, and Rush is their all-time leading goal scorer. He scored a whopping 346 goals across all competitions for Liverpool, making him arguably the team's greatest legend. For Wales, he managed 28 goals in 73 games from 1980-1996, but he never got to play in a major tournament.

Weah is the only African player to win the Ballon d'Or or be named FIFA World Player of the Year, both tremendous accomplishments. He represented Liberia as a player, and though he never led the country to a World Cup, he's still doing what he can for the Liberia. That is to say, he's actually currently the president of Liberia. You may want to keep an eye on his son Timothy, who currently plays for PSG and also the U.S. national team.

Before Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Figo served as the face of Portuguese soccer. He won the Ballon d'Or in 2000, the same year he made a controversial transfer from Barcelona to Real Madrid, where he joined forces with David Beckham and Ronaldo. While he had a ton of success domestically — he is second to Lionel Messi in La Liga assists — he never quite got Portugal over the hump.

Di Stefano is an old-school name, given that he played his soccer between 1945 and 1966. That includes a stint with Real Madrid where he scored a staggering 216 goals in 282 contests. He played for three different nations in his career — Argentina, Colombia and Spain — but won zero World Cups.

Van Basten did manage to win a UEFA Euro Cup with the Netherlands in 1988 as the top scorer in the tournament, but that was as far as he ever got. On a personal level, he managed to win the Ballon d'Or three times and eventually became manager of the Netherlands. There again, he failed to win the World Cup.

If you are a Manchester United fan of a certain age, Giggs is likely a king among men to you. He played his entire career with the red side of Manchester, appearing in a massive 672 games. The Welshman currently owns the record for most assists in Premier League history, but he never managed to get his native Wales to a World Cup.

Ballack was a midfield metronome for teams like Bayern Munich and Chelsea, as well as his national team in Germany. He played in three European Championships and two World Cups, including a World Cup final in 2002. However, Germany never hoisted a trophy until after he retired, which probably stings a bit.

Did you know Hungary used to be a soccer powerhouse? It's true, and it was mostly thanks to Puskas. He scored 84 goals in 85 games for his country and got Hungary as far as being the runners-up in 1954. Weirdly, he ended his international career by playing four games with Spain.

Baggio lives in infamy for missing a penalty kick in a shootout against Brazil for the 1994 World Cup title. However, it's unfair to remember him for that. He scored 205 goals across several different clubs in Serie A and scored nine goals across three World Cups.

Best was a soccer rock star, known for his good looks, partying lifestyle and flash on the pitch. He's considered one of the best ever with the ball at his feet, and had he been born in another country, he could have been an even bigger star. Alas, he happened to be born in Northern Ireland, which meant no chance of having success at the global level. However, there is an airport in Belfast named after him.

Zico is known as the White Pele, which is a bit problematic by modern standards but speaks to his talent. He's the rare Brazilian legend not to win a World Cup, even though he played in three of them. Pele once said, "Throughout the years, the one player that came closest to me was Zico," which probably says it all.

Maldini is known as "Il Capitano," which speaks to how much he is respected in Italy. The defender made 647 appearances for A.C. Milan between 1985 and 2009, a truly impressive career length. On top of that, Maldini played 126 more games for Italy. Naturally, he is in the Italian Football Hall of Fame, and many consider him an all-time great defender.

You've got to have at least one goalie on this list, and Kahn is a fine choice. In 2002, he won the Golden Ball for being the best player at the World Cup. He's the only goaltender to ever do that. Kahn also finished third in the Ballon d'Or voting twice, which, again, is incredibly impressive for a goalie.

In 1984, Platini had a Euros to remember. He led France to victory on home soil by scoring nine goals in a mere five games. Unfortunately for him, though he went to two World Cup semis, he never got France over that hump. Oh, and then he got banned from the sport for eight years alongside Sepp Blatter for massive corruption. He may not want that to be his legacy.

Born in Portuguese Mozambique in the days of colonialism, Eusebio, aka the Black Pearl, put Portuguese football on the map back in the day. Playing for Benfica, he scored 317 goals in 301 appearances and led them to four European Cup Finals (you know it as the Champions League now). He was also the top scorer at the 1966 World Cup, getting Portugal a third-place finish.

Of guys who will definitely never win a World Cup, Cruyff is probably the best of the bunch. He was the focal point of the "Total Football" Dutch teams that won hearts, if not trophies, in the '70s. A lot of soccer players are beloved. Few gleaned a cult as devoted as Cruyff. He's an ideal made manifest.

Ronaldo finally got a monkey off his back when Portugal won the UEFA European Championship in 2016, but he doesn't have a World Cup yet. Even if he never achieves that goal, you can't argue with his career success. He's one of the greatest goal scorers ever and has won the Ballon d'Or a whopping five times. He's arguably the best player of all time, or at least of this generation, except for…

Cristiano Ronaldo is destined to play Mario Lemieux to Messi's Wayne Gretzky. Ronaldo is a once-in-a-generation talent who happens to be part of the same generation as a player like Messi. Messi scored 382 goals in 416 games for Barcelona as he's led them to tremendous European success. Messi also has five Ballon d'Or trophies, and he also has a Golden Ball to his name after he almost singlehandedly dragged Argentina to the World Cup finals in 2014. Maybe 2018 will be his year.