The 8 players who won the World Cup but didn’t win anything else.

Winning the World Cup is the ultimate dream of any footballer, and for a select group in the history of the sport, this is the only ambition they have managed to achieve. To reach the pinnacle of international football, players must be truly special. Looking at the winning teams of recent editions, such as Argentina, France, and Germany, it is clear that they are made up of superstars with a trophy-laden record. However, by a quirk of fate, there is a small number of World Cup winners who have not won any other trophies throughout their careers. If one is to win a single trophy, let it be one of great prestige!

Here are the eight players who managed to lift the World Cup but did not win anything else in their football careers.

Ruben Moran is the first on the list. Known as ‘El Tiza’, he made history by becoming the first player to win the World Cup as a teenager, representing Uruguay in 1950. Although he only played one match in the tournament, it was in the historic 1-0 victory over Brazil — an iconic moment that was not the final, but rather the decisive game in a league format. Details about Moran are scarce, and he retired four years later without winning anything during his brief stint with Cerro in Montevideo.

Toni Turek is another nearly forgotten figure, except for true football history enthusiasts. Turek was the West German goalkeeper who starred in one of the biggest surprises in history by defeating Hungary in the final of the 1954 World Cup. Although Ferenc Puskas scored a goal early on, Turek managed to keep the net intact afterwards, contributing to the incredible turnaround that culminated in Germany’s victory. In his club career, he represented Eintracht Frankfurt and Fortuna Düsseldorf, but nothing compared to that miracle in Bern.

George Cohen, a Fulham legend, played every minute of every match for the England national team in the 1966 World Cup. George Best once claimed he was “the best defender I ever faced,” and he is still regarded as one of the best right-backs in the history of English football. However, Cohen was unfortunate not to represent any club other than Fulham, which never won a trophy.

Jimmy Armfield, for his part, although he did not play, was an important member of Alf Ramsey’s team that won the World Cup in 1966. With 43 caps for the national team, Armfield was an icon at Blackpool, where he played for over 17 years. Unfortunately, he retired without winning any trophies, having come close to winning the European Cup as manager of Leeds United in 1975, but fell to Bayern Munich in a final marked by controversy.

Uwe Bein, although overshadowed by names like Rudi Völler and Jürgen Klinsmann, played a significant role in West Germany’s victory in 1990, where he actively participated in four of his team’s seven matches but did not play in the final. His club career with Cologne, Hamburg, and Eintracht Frankfurt set him apart, but it did not lead to major achievements.

Simone Barone holds a special place on this list as a player who can easily be forgotten. Part of the Italian team that won the 2006 World Cup, he was not one of the heroes of the campaign but played a supporting role. His club career, which included stints at Chievo, Parma, Palermo, Torino, and Cagliari, was marked by a lack of trophies, making him a true journeyman of Serie A.

Christoph Kramer made a memorable appearance in the 2014 World Cup final, but he doesn’t remember much of what happened. Replacing Sami Khedira moments before the match, Kramer ended up getting injured and had to be substituted by André Schürrle, who assisted the winning goal. The player began his career at Bayer Leverkusen, but most of his time was spent at Borussia Mönchengladbach, which has not won a trophy since 1995.

Finally, Ron-Robert Zieler, a member of the German national team in the 2014 World Cup, had a career marked more by sitting on the bench than by playing on the field. With only five caps for Germany, he watched the tournament from the sidelines, yet still holds a winner’s medal. Most of his career was spent between Hannover and Stuttgart, and he is still active, although the likelihood of adding more trophies to his resume is minimal, as he now plays as a veteran at FC Köln.

These players, despite not having accumulated trophies in their careers, will forever have the glory of being world champions, a feat that few can claim in the history of football.