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Football stars who won World Cup without playing a single game including West Ham-bound Alphonse Areola with France

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PSG goalkeeper Alphonse Areola was one of the most interesting stories of the 2018 World Cup – just not for his impact on the pitch.

France’s third-choice keeper for the competition, Areola stepped off the team plane in Paris with the gold medal dangling round his neck after Didier Deschamps’ team beat Croatia to lift the famous trophy.

Alphonse Areola won the 2018 World Cup having never been capped by FranceCredit: Getty – Contributor
PSG’s shot-stopper kissed the Jules Rimet trophy outside the Elysee Presidential Palace after France won the 2018 World CupCredit: EPA

The Paris Saint-Germain shot-stopper – who looks set to join West Ham in a permanent deal  – then planted a kiss on the trophy amid celebrations outside the Elysee Presidential Palace as the squad celebrated.

And yet Areola, who has now won three international caps to his name, had never played a single minute for the senior side at the time – becoming the first player in 36 years to win the World Cup without having ever played for his country.

At World Cups gone by, there are players who went home with winners’ medals despite not playing a minute of the tournament.

Borussia Dortmund’s Erik Durm received a medal after Germany won the trophy in 2014, yet he didn’t make an appearance in Brazil.

But Durm did have one cap to his name.

In 2010, despite being Barcelona’s No1, Victor Valdes was back-up to Iker Casillas and never made an appearance for champions Spain in South Africa.

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Valdes had also made just one appearance for the first team.

You have to go back to 1982 to find a World Cup winner who hadn’t even been capped when they took a gold medal home — and he’s a household name.

Areola gleefully held the trophy aloft on France’s open-top bus tourCredit: EPA
Italian icon Franco Baresi was the last man to win a World Cup without being cappedCredit: PA:Empics Sport
Goalkeeper Giovanni Galli also won the 1982 World Cup without having an appearance to his nameCredit: Getty – Contributor

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Franco Baresi, the AC Milan icon who won six Serie A titles and three European Cups, hadn’t played a single minute for Italy when he won the World Cup in Spain.

Baresi did end up claiming 81 appearances for Italy across 12 years, and almost helped the nation win another World Cup in 1994 when they were beaten by Brazil in the final.

He wasn’t the only Italian to claim a medal in 1982 and not have a cap to his name, though.

Like Areola, Giovanni Galli was the third-choice goalkeeper for Enzo Bearzot’s team and had never made an appearance before the tournament.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk

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