Football, we are all so often told, is all about the big players delivering in the big games. This is something so many of the greatest ever players have done over the years. Yet like life, football doesn’t always go as planned – especially on the biggest of occasions.
The following list will no doubt generate some degree of controversy, as there is no questioning the quality of the players in it. However, what is up for debate is their contributions in cup finals throughout their career. So ranked here are the 10 greatest players who ‘never showed up’ in cup finals.
Ranking factors
Star quality – how well-known a player is.
Final numbers – the amount of big occasions a player has played in.
Anonymity – the degree to which the cup final passed them by – a lack of goals, for example.
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10 Lothar Matthaus
Germany
Lothar Matthaus in action for West Germany
Former West Germany captain Lothar Matthaus is one of the greatest central midfielders since 1990. He had a very influential World Cup for the Germans in 1990. He would go on to lift the trophy in Rome, as they beat Argentina 1-0 in the final. The goal came from the penalty spot.
It seemed logical that Matthaus would take that spot kick, as he’d scored the winner from the spot in the quarter-finals against the Czechs and again in the penalty shoot-out semi-final win over England. Yet it was Andreas Brehme who took and scored Germany’s penalty, because Matthaus was reported to have trouble with his boots:
“The sole cracked and I had to play the second half with completely new boots, which I'd never worn before. They were a completely new model. I always preferred well worn-in boots, but I didn't have a second pair with me.”
So because of that, Matthaus turned down the opportunity to take responsibility to win his country the World Cup.
9 Hugo Loris
France
Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspur.
Hugo Loris was a World Cup with France in 2018. Yet in the final, he made a terrible error when he tried to dribble past Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic, who duly robbed him and scored. Loris played in and lost two other major finals for the French – the finals of Euro 2016 and the 2022 World Cup final.
In the Euro final in Paris, he would have been disappointed to have been beaten from outside the box by Eder. He also played in three cup finals for Spurs losing on all of those occasions. Of course, Loris would no doubt point to the fact that, as captain, it was he who lifted the World Cup in 2018, despite his error.
8 Alan Shearer
England
Alan Shearer of Newcastle
Alan Shearer is the top Premier League scorer of all time. Lethal in front of goal, for club and country, the striker was worshipped by fans. In reality, honours were a little thin on the ground for Shearer. He was famously part of the Blackburn Rovers side that won the 1995 Premier League title.
Other than that, Shearer played in only three finals. Sadly, for him, he lost all of them. Nor was he able to find the net. His first final was the big game, the old Full Members Cup Final, which was known in 1992 as the Zenith Data Systems Cup Final. His Southampton side lost that match 3-2. Worse was to come as he lost back-to-back FA Cup finals for Newcastle against Arsenal and Manchester United.
7 Paul Gascoigne
England
Paul Gascoigne playing for Tottenham
English football fans were excited at the prospect of Paul Gascoigne playing in an FA Cup final in 1991. This was one of the most technically gifted players in British football history. He had already lit up Wembley with a sensational free kick for Spurs against Arsenal in the semi-final.
Yet in the final, he showed up way too keyed up. He could have arguably been sent off for a rash tackle before a further silly lunge saw him cause himself serious injury after just 17 minutes.
The injury turned out to be torn knee ligaments. Gascoigne would be out for a year. Although he would return, he was never quite the same player as he was that season. Gazza did later get two goals in the Scottish League Cup as Rangers won the trophy in 1996, but in many ways his career was defined five years earlier in the final at Wembley.
6 Eling Haaland
Norway
Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland enjoyed one of the greatest-ever individual seasons in the Premier League. This came in 2022/23, when Manchester City won the treble, with the big Norwegian scoring 36 goals in 35 Premier League games. There was no doubting his contribution to that season, as he was truly lethal in front of goal. Yet there is an elephant that remains in the room where Haaland and cup finals are concerned. Although he did score a brace for Borussia Dortmund in their 4-1 DFB Pokal final win over RB Leipzig, he’s yet to score in a cup final for City – despite playing in two FA Cup Finals and a Champions League final.
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5 Igor Belanov
Soviet Union
Igor Belanov
Igor Belanov caught the eye of the world with a stunning hat-trick for the Soviet Union in their 4-2 defeat to eventual semi-finalists Belgium. One of those was one of the goals of the world cup, a rocket of a strike no goalkeeper could save. The World Cup was very much a continuation of his form with Dynamo Kyiv.
He scored three goals across the two-legged European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final, as well as a penalty in the semi. However, Belanov was not among the goals in their 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the final. Belanov was named winner of the Ballon d’Or in 1986. Two years later he would play for the Soviet Union in the final of Euro ’88. They lost 2-0 to Holland and Belanov had a penalty saved.
4 Romario
Brazil
Romario
Romario was an exceptionally talented player for club and country. While he did get Brazil’s winner in the 1989 Copa America final against Uruguay, question marks remain about his contribution to arguably the two biggest games of his career.
The first was the 1994 Champions League final. In it, Barcelona were crushed 4-0 by AC Milan. Romario was barely in the game. The Brazilian had a far better summer, as his nation won the World Cup for the first time in 24 years. The diminutive striker was a vital part of them getting there, scoring their winner in the semi-final against Sweden. Yet in the final, he was largely stifled out of the game that Brazil eventually won on penalties.
3 Thierry Henry
France
Thierry Henry and Xabi Alonso
Of course, it is without question that Thierry Henry was a wonderful player. He was one of the fastest players to score 50 Premier League goals. He was also a key part of the Arsenal side that went unbeaten during the course of the 2003/04 Premier League season. Yet it is important to bring up Henry’s seeming difficulty in cup finals.
The facts are he played in 10 senior cup finals and he scored just one goal in those matches. That was the France winner against Cameroon in the 2003 final of the Confederations Cup. There was an assist in the 2006 Champions League final, but Arsenal lost that game to Barcelona. Overall, for a player so good, his record in cup finals was remarkably barren.
2 Mohamed Salah
Egypt
Mohamed Salah-1
Mohamed Salah is one of the greatest African players in football history. He is also incredibly well thought of at Liverpool, where he has been prolific for many years. Despite all the goals and success, niggling doubts remain around his contribution to cup finals.
Up until the end of the 2024/25 season, Salah has played in 11 cup finals. He has scored two goals in those matches, with both goals coming from the spot. One against Spurs in the 2019 Champions League final. The other was in the 2022 Community Shield. While there is no denying Salah’s talent, his performances in cup finals remain somewhat underwhelming.
1 Harry Kane
England
MixCollage-18-Nov-2024-03-10-PM-6981
Harry Kane is England’s all-time leading goal scorer. He has always been deadly in front of goal, but incredibly, his list of achievements in cup finals is paper thin. In fact, up until the time of writing, Kane is yet to win a cup final, let alone score in one.
Spurs failed to score at all in the three finals he played for them. Then there were the back-to-back England defeats in the finals of Euro 2020 and Euro 2024. Kane did score in the penalty shoot-out of the former vs Italy, but in the latter, which saw England lose to Spain, Kane received criticism. There were those that felt his performance was well below par and that he should have been subbed off far earlier in the game.
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All stats via Transfermarkt - correct as of 22/03/25.