Throughout the history of the world championships, which began in 1930 in Uruguay, as many as 101 players won the most important trophy in football without playing a single minute during the tournament. For some, it happened even twice.So far, 33 goalkeepers, 32 defenders, 18 midfielders and 18 forwards have won the gold medal without a drop of sweat. In Qatar today they will be joined by one more (if France wins) or two (in case of Argentina’s triumph).Argentina and France will play the final match of the 2022 World Cup at 6 PM EAT, and coaches Lionel Scalloni and Didier Deschamps used 24 players each on the way to the last hurdle.For the Gauchos, all but two goalkeepers – Geronimo Rulli and Franco Armani – appeared in the previous six matches. That is unlikely to change today, given the fact that Emiliano Martinez is among the most responsible for the fact that the dream of a third world title among the Argentines still lives on.##NAJAVA_MECA_6893005##With Les Bleus, the situation is somewhat different, because one of the two backup goalkeepers, Steve Mandanda, got the chance to replace Hugo Lloris in the result-insignificant group stage match with Tunisia, in which the French were defeated for the only time in Qatar (0-1). Unlike him, Alphonse Areola will again be without minutes, just like four years ago in Russia. Therefore, if France triumphs, the 29-year-old goalkeeper of West Ham will become the world champion for the second time in his career without defending even one minute in the tournament.It wouldn’t be the first time something like that happened. Without going on the field at all, Italian goalkeeper Guido Masetti (1934, 1938), Brazilian goalkeeper Carlos Jose Castillo (1958, 1962), as well as his teammate, left winger Jose Masia Pepe have two gold medals from the World Cup each. The former striker of Santos in Sweden in 1958 could not fight for a chance alongside Pele, Garrincha, Zagallo, Vava, Altafini, Dida… While four years later he arrived in Chile as a starter, however, he was injured a few days before the tournament.WORLD CUP FINAL LIVE: The closing ceremony is over, the kick-off approaches!The same bad luck happened to Karim Benzema this year. The 2022 Ballon d’Or winner was forced to leave France just two days before the first game of the tournament due to a quad muscle problem, but as Deschamps did not call a substitute, his name continues to appear in the match reports. It was even mentioned that the Real Madrid forward could return to Qatar and play in the later stages of the World Cup, but that did not happen. However, if France defends the world throne, the medal will be ready for Benzema. The question, however, is whether he will be there to receive her.It is interesting that among the players who have a gold medal from the World Cup without playing a minute is the famous Ronaldo, who as a 17-year-old was part of the Brazilian selection in 1994 in the United States of America, but the coach Alberto Pareira did not include him in any of the line-ups during the tournament. It was compensated by the popular Il Fenomeno in 2002.
