5 Famous Soccer Players With Zero Goals at the World Cup

The World Cup is probably the most important tournament in a player’s life, occurring every four years, and offering a chance to represent one’s country at the very highest level. It stands to be the most popular tournament in soccer with each game followed by millions of people.

Every player dreams not only of participating but making their make by scoring. While legendary players like Lionel Messi, Ronaldo, and Kylian Mbappe have all scored over 10 goals each, there have been some players who failed to score even a single goal.

Some of these players failed due to their circumstances, while others have just been unlucky. So, here are 5 famous soccer players with zero World Cup goals.

Paolo Maldini (Italy)

Paolo Maldini is arguably the greatest defender in the history of soccer, known for his aggressive defending and leadership skills. It’s worth mentioning that the Italian legend has played the most World Cup games in history. Maldini made his World Cup debut in 1990 and played his last game in the competition in 2002.

Across the four campaigns, he played 23 games but never got an opportunity to celebrate a goal. He is also one of those unlucky players who have participated in the World Cup more than three times but haven’t won it even once.

During his time at the competition, Italy played in the 1990 World Cup semi-final, which they lost to Argentina on the penalties. They then reached the 1994 final, where Brazil defeated them in a penalty shootout yet again. So, even after playing four World Cups and participating in over 20 games, Maldini was not fortunate enough to score or win the competition as a whole.

Frank Lampard (England)

Arguably one of the greatest midfielders in the history of English football, Frank Lampard didn’t have a very good time at the World Cups. Lampard made his World Cup debut in 2006 and played his last World Cup game in 2014.

Across the three editions of the competition, Lampard played 10 games and failed to score even once. The English legend is known for playing in attacking positions and is the all-time top scorer of the Chelsea Football Club. However, the reason behind his success with Chelsea was that he was notably the main man at the club, whereas, in the English national team, he was just another player.

Lampard always got overshadowed by superstars such as David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, and Steven Gerrard. Simply put, he never had a real opportunity with the English national team. However, in 2010, Lampard’s only goal in the World Cup was disallowed when the ball was clearly over the line, but the referee didn’t see it.

Pavel Nedvěd (Czech Republic)

The former Juventus superstar, Pavel Nedvěd, is one of the few midfielders to win the Ballon d’Or. Nedvěd won the prestigious award in 2003 after beating Thierry Henry. However, despite his success at the club level, Nedvěd never experienced glory with the national team. Pavel was a Czech international and is widely regarded as the greatest player to ever play for the country.

Our Vice President, Pavel Nedved won the Ballon d’Or #OnThisDay in 2003! 🏆#ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/ftTpVYLdh8

— JuventusFC 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@juventusfcen) December 22, 2018

During his time in the national team, the Czech Republic only qualified for the 2006 World Cup. As a result, Nedvěd played just three World Cup games in his entire career and was not fortunate enough to score a single goal.

Luis Figo (Portugal)

Luis Figo is widely regarded as one the greatest Portuguese players of all time. He was only the second player from Portugal to win the Ballon d’Or after Eusébio and was one of the few players to represent both Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Figo was also named in the FIFA 100 list of the world’s greatest living players in 2004. So, from the mid-’90s to the mid-2000s, Figo was no doubt one of the best players in the world.

However, despite being at the top of his game at the club and country, Figo never had a good time at the World Cups. He played a total of 10 games for Portugal in two World Cups (2002 & 2006) but didn’t score even a single goal.

He was the best player in the team at that time and had players like young Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Carvalho alongside him. But still, he failed to find the back of the net even once. Moreover, in 2006, Figo and Portugal lost the semi-final of the World Cup by one goal.

Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is arguably the greatest number 9 in the history of soccer, a player who scored over 450 goals and is known for winning almost every trophy except the World Cup and the UCL. Zlatan had the skills to hit the ball from any distance but still struggled to score a goal in the World Cup.

In his international career of 13 years, Ibrahimovic participated in only two World Cups (2002 & 2006) and played just 5 games, meaning he never had many chances to score goals. Zlatan was one of those players who had the potential to beat every single record but never got a team to help him out.

Sweden are eliminated from the 2022 World Cup.

Zlatan Ibrahimović’s last World Cup appearance was in 2006 😕 pic.twitter.com/OvQbr0EnXf

— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 29, 2022

After 2006, Sweden never qualified for the tournament, and the closest they came to qualifying was in 2010. The Swedish side played against Portugal in the final qualifier playoffs, where Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick broke their dreams. Zlatan Ibrahimović was again the solo savior as he scored two goals.

However, after that playoff, Sweden never came that close to the competition, hence Zlatan Ibrahimovic became the greatest player to never score in the World Cups.