Top 10 players with better international careers than club ones 🏅 | OneFootball

The homeland before the party. Some footballers have found their true greatness with their national team, sometimes in contrast to a decent but far less dazzling club career.

Focus on ten players who made their mark mainly thanks to their performances for their national teams.

Miroslav Klose (Germany)

The top scorer in the history of the Mannschaft (71 goals) and World Cup record holder (16 goals), Klose built his legend with the national team.

World champion in 2014, he will forever be linked to Germany’s great campaigns at the start of the 21st century. His club career, respectable at Werder, Bayern, or Lazio, never reached the same level of glory.

Ali Daei (Iran)

With 109 goals scored for his country, he long held the world record. A true idol in Iran, Daei was the face of Asian football in the 1990s and 2000s. However, his time in the Bundesliga (Bayern Munich, Hertha Berlin) was rather discreet, never approaching his influence with the national team.

Youcef Belaïli (Algeria)

A whimsical and unpredictable player, Belaïli has established himself as one of the symbols of the Fennecs’ renaissance. Decisive during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations won by Algeria, he scored important goals and dazzled with his creativity, becoming a fan favorite.

His club career, on the other hand, has been much more chaotic: between suspensions, returns home, mixed spells in Qatar or France (Angers, Brest, and Ajaccio), he never truly confirmed his immense talent over time.

Éder (Portugal)

Often mocked for his inefficiency at club level, whether at Braga, Swansea City, or LOSC, Éder nevertheless made history for Portuguese football forever.

His name will always be associated with a single moment: that long-range shot in extra time of the Euro 2016 final against France, giving Portugal its first major title. A clutch goal from a player who had until then been seen as a hard-working striker, but rarely decisive at club level.

Eduardo Vargas (Chile)

An unexpected hero, he shone during the 2015 and 2016 Copa América, scoring decisive goals that gave Chile two historic continental trophies. At club level, his spells at Napoli, Hoffenheim, or Valencia never convinced, which strongly contrasts with his national team performances.

Asamoah Gyan (Ghana)

A symbol of the Black Stars, he is the top scorer in his country’s history (51) and the top African scorer in the World Cup (6). His missed penalty against Uruguay in 2010 remains one of the great tragedies of African football.

Although he had good spells at Rennes, Sunderland, or in the Emirates, Gyan’s club career never reflected his aura with the national team.

Fabio Grosso (Italy)

Unforgettable scorer in the 2006 World Cup semi-final against Germany, then author of the winning penalty in the final, Grosso will remain an icon for the tifosi. His club career, decent at Palermo, Inter, or Lyon, never matched the impact of those two magical nights.

El Hadji Diouf (Senegal)

Double African Ballon d’Or (2001 and 2002), "Dioufy" embodied that golden generation that brought Senegal onto the world stage.

A flamboyant and sometimes controversial personality, he will forever be associated with Senegal’s run at the 2002 World Cup. He contributed to the historic feat of reaching the quarter-finals, notably beating reigning world champions France.

However, his club career was much more disappointing: touted as a star at Liverpool after his impressive spell at Lens, Diouf never lived up to the expectations and mostly had mixed experiences in England and Scotland. It is with the national team that he left his most lasting mark.

Stern John (Trinidad and Tobago)

He is simply the top scorer in the history of the CONCACAF region (70). Stern John carried his small nation to the 2006 World Cup, with 70 goals in 115 caps. At club level, despite many spells in the English Championship, he remained in the shadows.

Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon)

A tenacious and efficient striker, Aboubakar has written some of the most beautiful recent pages in the history of the Indomitable Lions. He is the man who scored the decisive goal in the 2017 AFCON final against Egypt, giving Cameroon its fifth continental title. He also shone at AFCON 2021, finishing as the tournament’s top scorer with 8 goals, confirming his status as a big-game player.

At club level, despite solid spells at Porto and in Turkey (Besiktas, Al Nassr), he never achieved the same aura as he did in the green jersey, where he became a true national icon.

Honorable mentions: Roger Milla (Cameroon), Youri Djorkaeff (France), Mustapha Hadji (Morocco), Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico), Lukas Podolski (Germany), Clint Dempsey (United States), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Tim Cahill (Australia), Salif Keïta (Mali), Angelos Charisteas (Greece), Henri Camara (Senegal), Claudio Caniggia (Argentina), Anders Svensson (Sweden) and Karel Poborsky (Czech Republic).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.

📸 MIGUEL MEDINA