Barça players who missed out

With just a few days until the start of the Brazil World Cup, Barça are again providing many of the tournament’s top players. However, down the years there have been a number of Club stars who never figured in a World Cup.

One of the Club’s all time leading scorers, Josep Samitier (1919-1932),  missed the only World Cup held before he retired, as Spain claimed they didn’t have enough money to travel to the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay. Samitier wasn’t alone in missing the chance to play in the tournament, as his teammates, winger Vicenç Piera (1920-1933)  and striker Àngel Arocha (1926-1933) also missed out.

Two other top forwards  Josep Escolà (1934-1937; 1940-1949) and Josep Raich (1934-1938; 1940-1945) also missed out, with Spain not attending the 1938 tournament in France., the last until the post war 1950 competition in Brazil. The Hungarian legend  Ladislau Kubala abandoned his homeland and became eligible to play for Spain, but the national side missed out on qualification in both 1954 and 1958.

The defenders Gustau Biosca (1949-1958) and Enric Gensana (1956-1963), as well as the Brazilian striker  Evaristo de Macedo (1957-1962) were three other big names who were to miss the chance to figure in the competition.

1966 Fairs Cup winner Jesús María Pereda never made it to a World Cup and neither did the German midfielder Bernd Schuster, who missed the 1982 edition in Spain with an injury and then retired from international football after a disagreement with the German Federation. Current B team coach Eusebio Sacristán is another big name who never enjoyed the thrill of a World Cup.