A number of Aston Villa stars did not have a single minute to ever play in FIFA World Cup, with the club’s legend as one of them.
2026 FIFA World Cup has been underway. It is heading to the knockout stage but one Aston Villa star has yet to make his world cup debut, while his teammates in Villa Park have done it.
Such might have been rather frustrating. However, Watkins tries to stay composed as he knows his time will come from the bench and accepts his role. It is just shameful for England boss not to give him a chance in the starting XI or at least as a substitute.
Ahead the third game against Panama, the 30-year-old forward surely would hope he could get some minutes on the pitch. He definitely would not want to end up like these Villa stars who failed to make a single appearance in the FIFA World Cup. Next four years in six nations would be too old for him to even be included in England squad. So, who were those unfortunate Aston Villa stars only to be unused substitute throughout the tournament? Here they were.
He was one of the first Aston Villa men making the cut in the world cup final squad for his nation, Wales, in 1958 edition along with Peter McParland in Northern Ireland. Yet, Crowe was not as fortunate as his winger teammate.
In the era when player substitution was not yet introduced, the ex-midfielder did not play a single game in the tournament despite The Dragons’ success to advance to quarterfinal.
Crowe was part of Villa squad from 1951 to 1964 and made 336 appearances for the Lions. The midfielder with 16 international caps bagged 12 times and provided nine assists. He was the captain when they won their first EFL League Cup in 1961.
He might be Aston Villa legend but in the Three Lions, Withe was just one of the few England forwards named in the world cup final squad in Spain. The ex-striker eventually did not make a single appearances in Spain 1982 as the manager Ron Greenwood preferred Paul Mariner, Trevor Francis as the front two or Kevin Keegan ahead of Withe.
The former Nottingham Forest and Newcastle man was prolific in The Clarets and Blue with 92 goals during his stint in Villa Park from 1980 to 1985. He netted the winning goal in European Cup final in the same year, helped Villa win the league in 1980/81.
Overall, the striker with 11 international caps never played in any major international competition afterwards. He only netted once back in 1983 EURO qualifiers. England thumped Hungary 2-0 but did not qualify to EURO 1984.
The Croatian was part of Aston Villa squad in 2001/2002 season. He only featured 11 times in all competition without a single direct contribution as forward. Nevertheless, Balaban made the cut for world cup final squad in Japan-Korea 2002.
Unfortunately, he did not get a chance to play a single minute. The competition upfront was fierce as there were Davor Suker, Goran Vlaovic, Alen Boksic and the young Ivica Olic. The former Club Brugge man was capped 35 times, registering 10 goals and two assists.
He was the former left back who played for The Lions from 2009 to 2013. Warnock played 101 times for the West Midlands side, scoring three goals and set up seven assists.
The former Liverpool and Blackburn man surprisingly made the cut for England final squad in South Africa 2010. However, he was only the deputy of Ashley Cole and only capped twice on the international stage in his career.
He was playing for The West Midlands side from 2017 to 2021. The former right back was part of Dean Smith’s squad when Villa returned to the Premier League via playoff.
Elmohamady was included in Egypt world cup final squad in Russia 2018. Yet, he did not get a nod to play a single game, despite being one of the experienced players. The former Hull City man featured in 91 games on the international stage, notching up six goals and making 10 assists.
The ex-right back made 129 appearances for The Lions. He also contributed four goals and 16 assists before he hung up his boots as the Villan.
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