A golden generation is exciting for any country as the gifted playing group serves as hope of achieving major success. The expectations can be high and unfortunately the weight of expectation is too great. Let’s go through the greatest Golden Generations that have never won a World Cup.
Australia (2005-2015)
Australia waited for 32 years between World Cup appearances, qualifying for the 2006 World Cup following a stunning shootout win over Uruguay in a qualification playoff. Their golden generation included Mark Schwarzer, Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill, Mark Bresciano and Lucas Neill among others.
A stunning 3-1 win over Japan in their opening match of the World Cup and a draw with Croatia would advance to side to the knockout stage. In the round-of-16, Australia had Italy on the ropes following a 50th minute red card to Marco Materazzi. Italy scored a highly controversial penalty in the fifth minute of injury time to snatch a grubby 1-0 win. Australia would also qualify for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups but would fail to make the playoffs as the golden generation began to age and retire.
Ivory Coast (2006-2015)
The Ivory Coast had a star studded lineup during the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cups. Spearheaded by Didier Drogba upfront, the Ivory Coast had a superstar attack that included Gervinho and Salomon Kalou, a worldclass midfield with Yaya Toure and Didier Zokora, and Premier League stars Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Eboué at the back. Even Sven-Göran Eriksson managed the side through the 2010 World Cup.
Ivory Coast never managed to make it past the group stages however they came within seconds of doing so at the 2014 World Cup. A 1-1 draw with Greece would have been good enough to send them through to the round-of-16 but a penalty in the third minute of injury time meant that Greece would leapfrog Ivory Coast after a 2-1 win. The reward … a favourable round-of-16 fixture against Costa Rica.
Belgium (2014-Present)
Belgium has one of the greatest pools of players never to have won a World Cup. Vincent Kompany, Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard have all been considered as the greatest players in the world during their time at their respective positions. Then there are superstars Romelu Lukaku, Jan Vertonghen, Dries Mertens, Toby Alderweireld and Thibaut Courtois who are a part of the golden generation.
At both the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, Belgian swept their group stages winning all three games which included a 2-0 win over England in 2018. In 2014 they would lose in the quarter finals to Argentina 1-0 and in 2018, went one better by making the semi-finals before falling to France 1-0. A third place finish after beating England 2-0 in the third place play-off became their best ever finish. There’s still time for the current golden generation, but time is running out as some of the generation has already since retired.
Croatia (2012-Present)
Croatia have been a historically strong footballing nation and finished third place at the 1998 World Cup. Since 2012 there has been a new golden generation that has replaced them, with Luka Modric, Mario Mandzukic, Ivan Rakitic and Ivan Perisic leading a stellar lineup.
At the 2014 World Cup, Croatia crashed out of the group stages. For the 2018 World Cup they beat Greece in a play-off to qualify for the tournament. After sweeping their group stage including a win over Argentina, Croatia beat Denmark, Russia and England to qualify for the finals where they lost to France.
Portugal (2000-2006)
Portugal have been blessed with one of the best players of all-time since his debut in 2003, Cristiano Ronaldo. A young Ronaldo was surrounded by legends including Luis Figo, Rui Costa, Ricardo Carvalho, Joao Pinto and Costinha.
They would reach the World Cup semi-finals in 2006 but have since failed to make it beyond the round-of-16. Pinto would retire from the national team in 2002, Costa in 2004 and Figo in 2006 which ended Portugal’s best chance to win the World Cup to date. A new potential golden generation may be forming for Portugal led by Joao Felix.
Yugoslavia (1987–1992)
Yugoslavia were made up of the national teams that we know of today from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Slovenia. Considering the wealth of talent those countries produce today, it’s no surprise that Yugoslavia had a golden generation that includes legends like Dragan Stojković, Dejan Savićević, Zvonimir Boban and Safet Sušić.
Yugoslavia reached the quarter finals of the 1990 World Cup before losing to eventual champions West Germany. In 1994 sanctions imposed by the United Nations meant that they were suspended from international competition and the football team would disappear following the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Argentina (2006-2014)
Argentina’s under 20’s team won an astonishing five U-20 World Cup titles between 1995 and 2007. Argentina had stars including Roberto Ayala, Juan Román Riquelme, Hernán Crespo, Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano and a young Lionel Messi at the 2006 and 2010 World Cup where they would lose in the quarter-final to Germany on both occasions.
In 2014 the team had a golden opportunity by making the World Cup Final, falling short in a 1-0 extra time loss to Germany. Argentina missed their best opportunity to win a World Cup whilst Messi was in his prime and as there superstars gradually began to retire, Messi just couldn’t do it all on his own.
England (2001-2007)
The weight of expectation on England is as great as any national team in the world. Their golden generation produced an unbelievable squad that included David Beckham, Michael Owen, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Sol Campbell.
At the 2002 and 2006 World Cup, England were eliminated at the quarter-final stage. They would lose to eventual champions Brazil in 2002 and in 2006, their typical shootout woes would haunt them as Lampard, Gerrard and Carragher all missed their penalties in a loss to Portugal.
Hungary (1950-1956)
The “Golden Team”, also known as the “Mighty Magyars”, was the Hungarian team of the 1950s that lost only one game in 49 matches. At the 1954 World Cup, Hungary qualified for the World Cup Final after wins against Brazil and Uruguay but lost to West Germany 3-2.
Star striker Ferenc Puskás scored 84 goals in 85 games for Hungary and the FIFA Puskás Award – given to the most “beautiful” goal across the globe for the year – is named after him. The Hungarian Revolution in 1956 resulted in thousands of Hungarians being killed, nearly a quarter of a million Hungarians fleeing the country and the sudden breakup of the team.
The Netherlands (70’s, 90’s, 2010’s)
The concept of Total Football – a tactic in which any player can take over any positional role on the pitch – was invented by the Dutch. It was so successful, the Netherlands qualified for World Cup Finals in 1974 and 1978. This was a golden generation led by Johan Cryuff who in fact didn’t play in the 1978 World Cup following a kidnapping attempt.
A new golden generation developed decades later as the Netherlands made it to the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup with a squad that included Dennis Bergkamp, Edgar Davids, Patrick Kluivert and Marc Overmars.
The Netherlands are the best country to have never won a World Cup, with a third golden generation including the likes of Arjen Robben, Mark van Bommel, Robin van Persie and Wesley Schneijder reaching the 2010 World Cup Final where they lost for a third time in a loss to Spain.
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