Alfredo Di Stéfano, the great who represented Argentina and Spain yet never played a World Cup | OneFootball

Argentina face Spain in Sunday’s World Cup final at 21:00, a fraternal clash bound by shared history. Its most luminous bridge is Alfredo Di Stéfano, who represented both nations yet never played at a World Cup.

According to L'Équipe, the Buenos Aires-born forward, born on 4 July 1926, debuted for Argentina on 4 December 1947 in the Copa América group stage, scoring his side’s sixth goal in a 7-0 win over Bolivia. He kept his place thereafter, except for the final match against Uruguay, a 3-1 victory.

Argentina won that mini-league tournament and Di Stéfano played six matches. He finished with six goals for the Albiceleste, then never appeared for them again, his 1949 move to Colombia and Argentina’s absence from the 1950 and 1954 World Cups hardly helping.

Transferred to Real Madrid in 1953 and naturalised Spanish in 1956, he became eligible for La Roja and the Ballon d’Or, then restricted to European players. He won the award in 1957 and again in 1959.

Even so, he never made a World Cup appearance. Spain failed to qualify in 1958, and injury sidelined him when 1962 began, leaving him to watch a group-stage exit from the bench.

Di Stéfano ended with 31 Spain caps and 23 goals, a fine return that still sat apart from his club greatness. Beyond the 1947 Copa América, he played no other major international tournament.

Source: L'Équipe