In an alternate universe, we would
be able to build our dream teams on the international stage. Take one
player, put him in a different team, and his entire career is changed for good. Sad
that that alternate universe doesn’t exist. Well, we can make it exist here today. Let’s
dive into the world of imagination and see how different things would have been for
certain players had they been born in a different country. These are 10 players who
could have achieved more with other countries. Let’s start with Cristiano Ronaldo. All his
life, he has had to fight! While other greats like Messi, Neymar, and Mbappé found themselves
in countries with some international pedigree, Ronaldo was born in a country that had never
won a major trophy before him. In fact, before he made his international debut
in 2003, Portugal had only qualified for the Euros 3 times in the previous 11 editions;
and the World Cup, 3 times in the previous 16. But since Ronaldo made his debut, Portugal have
never failed to qualify for either the Euros or the World Cup and he has even managed to win
them the Euros and the Nations League. But now, just imagine for a second that Cristiano Ronaldo
was born in Brazil like the other Ronaldo. If he was able to achieve all of this
with a Portugal team that didn’t have much footballing history, just imagine
how much more he’d have done with Brazil. He’ll almost certainly be a world champion by now. You know who else would? Robert Lewandowski.
Just imagine if Lewandowski was like Lucas Podolski – born in Poland but represented
Germany on the international stage – he certainly would have been a world
champion by now. Hell, he might even be up there as the all-time
top scorer in World Cup history. Lewandowski played in Germany for most
of his club career and his time there surely proves that he’d have been a
perfect fit for their national team. Before Lewandowski, Poland never
qualified for the Euros. But with him, they’ve never failed to qualify for the
Euros, even reaching the quarter-finals once. Imagine taking this goal
machine and putting in Germany, he’d have maybe won two World Cups and
a Euros. I mean, if Podolski could win the World Cup and reach a Euros final,
surely Lewandowski would have done more. Speaking of goal machines, just imagine
if Harry Kane was in that Belgium golden generation. They would’ve conquered the
world. Belgium largely underachieved for the quality they had, but one big issue
was that Lukaku missed a lot of chances. With the creativity of Hazard and De Bruyne,
Kane would’ve scored a truckload of goals. And this is not even crazy to say. Man City had De
Bruyne for years and they never won the Champions League because the guys up front kept wasting
the chances he created. But the moment they bought a goal machine who could convert those
chances, they won it all in the first season. That goal machine, of course, is Erling
Haaland. And just take a second to imagine him playing for Germany right now. People say
that Germany plays like a well-oiled machine, and which one player in world football
fits that description better than Haaland? Julian Nagelsmann appears to be doing
a good job with Germany right now, and if Haaland were to be in that team, then you’d be sure he’d retire with an international
legacy that could rival that of Mbappé. Speaking of Mbappé reminds us of a certain
Frenchman – Karim Benzema. Benzema is perhaps the biggest outlier on this list. This guy
was one of the most gifted strikers of his generation. He played for Madrid and was a
French citizen, perfect combination, right? Well, it should’ve been, but he got
himself involved in some ugly stuff in the France national team and ended
up missing out on France’s best years. This is where the imagination comes in.
Imagine he was born in the Netherlands. He would not have gotten himself involved
in all that BS in France. Instead, he’d have formed a crazy strike
partnership with van Persie, and maybe the Dutch would have won the
2010 World Cup final with him in the team. In fact, Benzema would probably
still be going strong with the Netherlands right now. They still
don’t have a top striker and you can see how Benzema in that team turns
them to favorites at every competition. And now that we’re in the Netherlands, we can’t
help but imagine how different Virgil van Dijk’s career would’ve been if he was Italian. Italy has
always been the home of world class defenders; from Baresi to Maldini to Cannavaro to Bonucci and
Chiellini. Virgil would’ve fit in so perfectly, man! And he’ll also have had a much better
international legacy than he currently does. What about van Dijk’s Liverpool teammate Mo Salah?
Imagine Salah in Belgium’s golden generation. That team, in spite of how good it was, never
really had a strong right wing. Imagine if you had a front four of Hazard, Lukaku, Salah, and De
Bruyne. Nah, they would’ve been so untouchable. And yes, we know we said earlier that Lukaku
misses a lot of chances, but when you have a winger like Salah on the team, the striker doesn’t
have to worry much about scoring. Ask Firmino. If Salah was in that Belgium team, he'd
certainly have achieved more. I mean, imagine Salah in that red-hot form he was in
back in 2018 going into the World Cup with Belgium. He would almost certainly have
scored against France in that semi-final, and they would very likely have
won against Croatia in the final. Speaking of Croatia, yeah, Luka Modrić certainly has to be on this
list. Modrić has done a lot for Croatia; a whole lot. He has taken them to the World Cup
and Nations League finals. This is a country that hadn’t gotten past the group stage of the World
Cup since 1998 and didn’t even qualify in 2010. Now, imagine if you carried Modrić with his
abilities and mentality and put him in Spain. Wow! Spain would’ve dominated the international scene
for 15 straight years. Imagine going from years of Xavi and Iniesta to years of Modrić, Rodri,
and Busquets. They would’ve been unplayable. Obviously, the quality in Spain dropped
after Xavi, Iniesta, Alonso, Torres, David Villa, and the likes left, and that’s
why they suffered for a bit. So just imagine they had a guy like Modrić coming after them.
The domination would have continued. I mean, if Modrić could take Croatia to a World Cup final,
he certainly could have won it all with Spain. Let’s also talk about Modrić’s former teammate
Gareth Bale. When you talk about carry-jobs on the international stage, Bale is one of the
greatest to have ever done it. Before him, Wales had Giggs, but they never
qualified for the Euros and had only qualified for the World
Cup, once, long ago in 1958. But Bale came through, led Wales
to their first ever Euros in 2016, and even helped them reach the
quarter-finals that year. Then he also went on to lead them to their
first World Cup in 64 years in 2022. Now, we know that Bale is proud to have
represented Wales and he wouldn’t have had it any other way, but just imagine he
agreed to represent England instead. Wow! He would’ve been that x-factor that England
have been lacking in the biggest games. Bale is a guy who can win you a big game all
by himself; whether with a shot from distance, a set-piece, a solo run, a header, a tap-in, whatever! He has it all in his arsenal.
We saw him single-handedly win finals for Madrid against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey
and against Liverpool in the Champions League. If England had him in that final against
Italy, he’d surely have single-handedly ended the game in the 90 with some kind
of crazy screamer that nobody saw coming. Speaking of screamers, one man who
definitely scored those is Zlatan Ibrahimović. And just from the sound of his
name, he certainly would’ve fit right into the Croatia national team. And if Modrić
had a GOAT striker like Zlatan up front, Croatia would surely have had a gold medal
by now. Even if it wasn’t the World Cup, maybe the Nations League or the Euros;
they’d surely have had something. No, for real, think about
it; Modrić, Rakitić, Perisić, Kovačić, and Ibrahimović would’ve been a
scary combo for any opponent to handle. Anyway, how about you guys keep the imagination
going in the comments. What players would have achieved more if they were playing for a
different country? Tell us in the comments. If you enjoyed this video, give it a thumbs
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