15 Top Footballers Who Retired Too Early

The football world will say goodbye to one of its biggest icons this summer with Toni Kroos making the decision to retire from the sport after Euro 2024. The Real Madrid star is out of contract with the club after the current campaign wraps up, and he’s decided to call time on his illustrious career rather than seek a new challenge elsewhere.

At just 34 years old, and coming off the back of a solid season with Los Blancos, Kroos still clearly has plenty to offer and has retired while at the top of his game. The decision is surprising, and gets the question: what other big stars walked away from the sport when they could have perhaps stuck it out a little longer? A list of the 15 best examples has been compiled below.

They have also been ranked based on several different factors such as their impact on the sport, their pure footballing ability and how much they seemingly still had to offer.

14 best footballers who retired too early

Player
Age retired at

1. George Best
28

2. Zinedine Zidane
34

3. Michel Platini
32

4. Marco van Basten
31

5. Eric Cantona
30

6. Toni Kroos
34

7. Just Fontaine
28

8. Alan Shearer
29 (Internationally)

9. Patrick Kluivert
32

10. Brian Laudrup
31

11. Thiago Alcantara
33

12. Sergio Aguero
33

13. Pierluigi Casaraghi
28

14. Hidetoshi Nakata
29

15. Enock Mwepu
24

15Enock Mwepu

Retired at 24

The Brighton and Hove Albion midfielder looked set to be yet another Seagulls star on the rise and ready for an exciting career. However, at just 24 years of age, following the diagnosis of a hereditary heart condition, Mwepu was sadly forced to retire in 2022.

In a statement released at the time, he spoke of his “sadness” over the news but did at least take solace that he’d lived a dream by reaching the Premier League. He added: “This is, however, not the end of my involvement in football, I plan to stay involved in some capacity.” Brighton helped him fulfil this promise as he was appointed as the under-9s coach for the club’s academy in January 2023.

14Hidetoshi Nakata

Retired at 29

Nakata finished his career at Bolton, but in the late 90s and early 00s, he was arguably the best Asian player on the planet. The Japan international shone primarily in Serie A with Perugia, Parma, and AS Roma, while he also featured in all four of his country’s matches as they hosted the 2002 World Cup along with South Korea.

Aged just 29 in 2006, however, Nakata revealed he simply no longer enjoyed football and wanted to do something else with his time, although in a statement he insisted: “I will never go out onto the pitch again as a professional football player, but I will never give up football.” His next passion proved to be fashion, and he can regularly be seen attending runway shows. However, more recently, as per Forbes, he has been revitalizing the Japanese traditional sake industry.

13Pierluigi Casiraghi

Retired at 28

Casiraghi enjoyed successful spells with Juventus and Lazio in his homeland before making the multi-million-pound move to Chelsea in 1998. He was one of several Italians at Stamford Bridge at the time, and there was hope he could fire the Blues to silverware. However, in November of the same year he joined, disaster struck in a clash against West Ham as he collided with goalkeeper Shaka Hislop and suffered a cruciate ligament injury.

Devastatingly, that was the last game of football he ever played, despite going through ten operations as he attempted to recover. Having managed just one goal in ten outings, his contract with the Blues was terminated in 2000, when Casiraghi was only 28. He later criticised the club for not helping him enough and in August 2000 Casiraghi explored legal action against Chelsea for unpaid wages after his contract was terminated early.

12Sergio Aguero

Retired at 33

At the very least, Sergio Aguero got to live out an extremely impressive career. He of course netted the famous winner to seal Manchester City’s first-ever Premier League title win, won the Europa League with Atletic Madrid, and Copa America with Argentina (alongside numerous other trophies).

However, when he joined Barcelona in 2021, he would have been hoping to add a few more accolades to his list but never got the chance. He played just five times for the club before being forced into early retirement aged 33 due to a heart condition diagnosis. He no doubt would have been disappointed to have consequently not been a part of the World Cup-winning Argentina team at Qatar 2022.

11Thiago Alcantara

Retired at 33

Thiago Alcantara was tipped for greatness from a young age and while he lived in the shadow of great Spanish midfielders Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez and Sergio Busquets at Barcelona, he excelled in Germany after moving to Bayern Munich. Pulling the strings in the middle of the park, he won seven consecutive Bundesliga titles, as well as the Champions League, before heading to Liverpool.

In the Premier League, his talent was clear to see but the Spaniard’s body really began to let him down. He managed 24 and then 25 league appearances in his first two campaigns before this figure dropped to 18. Then in his fourth a final season, Thiago played just once in the top flight for Jurgen Klopp. With that in mind, it made a certain amount of sense when he decided to call it a day in July 2024. Even so, aged just 33 and considered a top midfielder at the time, it seemed as though gifted footballer could have easily continued at a high level for another few seasons.

10Brian Laudrup

Retired at 31

Laudrup will go down forever as one of Denmark’s finest footballing exports having of course been part of the Euro 92 side that sent shockwaves across Europe by winning the tournament. Along with brother Michael, who missed out on that international success, Brian remains one of his country’s greatest-ever players.

Having appeared for the likes of Bayern Munich, Fiorentina, AC Milan, Rangers and Chelsea the Dane also impressed at club level too. Unfortunately, though, injuries wreaked havoc on his body and thwarted his ability during what should have been his prime years. After short spells with FC Copenhagen and Ajax, Laudrup ultimately retired at 31 in 2000.

9Patrick Kluivert

Retired at 32

Kluivert was just a teenager when he scored the winner for Ajax in a 1-0 victory over Juventus in the 1995 Champions League final, cementing his status as a club icon despite being only 18 years of age. After shining at the Eredivisie outfit alongside a whole host of other up-and-coming stars, the striker moved to AC Milan, then Barcelona, where he thrived, scoring at least 15 goals in six straight La Liga campaigns.

He was the Netherlands’ all-time leading scorer with 40 goals until Robin van Persie broke his record in 2013. Following his departure from Barca, though, he never quite scaled the same height and went through four clubs in four years, with Lille the last stop of his career in 2008, aged 32.

8Alan Shearer (international)

Retired at 29

Considering Alan Shearer did not finish his club career until he was 35, his international retirement six years earlier, in hindsight, looks remarkably premature. The striker was prolific for England too, scoring 30 times in 63 caps, and netted in three international tournaments.

His best moments came at Euro 96, where he scored four times but, following the next edition four years later, he chose to hang up his Three Lions boots even though he still had plenty to offer. There was speculation he would make himself available for the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004, but that proved to be unfounded.

7Just Fontaine

Retired at 28

While Miroslav Klose’s record of 16 career World Cup goals spread across four editions from 2002 to 2014 is potentially achievable – albeit extremely challenging to surpass – surely no one will beat Fontaine’s 13 strikes scored during just the one tournament.

The 1958 World Cup in Sweden was undoubtedly his crowning glory, with his goals coming in just six outings, but the Frenchman was deadly in front of goal throughout his career, scoring 165 goals in 200 Ligue 1 matches. Perhaps with modern practices, he may have been able to overcome fitness issues, but alas, aged just 28, Fontaine was forced to retire in 1962 with a recurring injury, marking the end of a true great’s career.

6Toni Kroos

Retiring at 34

With Toni Kroos’ contract expiring in the summer of 2024, the midfielder decided to call it time on his incredible career. Whether it was with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or the German national team, he won just about everything there was to win over the years and has proven that he still has plenty to offer even at 34 years old.

Despite having fine final year with Los Blancos – winning La Liga and the Champions League – he decided to hang his boots up and while he’s accomplished so much already, there’s a sense that he still had plenty he could achieve on the football pitch. There have been few midfielders quite on his level over the last 15 years. It’s a shame he couldn’t taste glory one more time with Germany, as they were knocked out by Spain at the quarter-final stage of Euro 2024.

5Eric Cantona

Retired at 30

While the Class of ’92 was the foundation for Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United revolution, Cantona was its leader. The Frenchman had struggled to find a home throughout a turbulent career, and his France career was in tatters by the time he arrived at Old Trafford in 1992.

Over the next five years, however, Cantona inspired United to four Premier League titles, cementing his legacy as one of English football’s best imports. After the last of those league wins in 1997, however, the forward hung up his boots aged just 30. In a typically self-assured statement, he explained: “I have played professional football for 13 years, which is a long time. I now wish to do other things. I always planned to retire when I was at the top and, at Manchester United, I have reached the pinnacle of my career.” Well, those other things were namely acting – he popped up in a Liam Gallagher music video a few years ago – though he also won a Beach Soccer World Cup with France to boot.

4Marco van Basten

Retired at 31

During the 1980s and early 90s, van Basten was one of the most formidable strikers on the planet, scoring 282 goals in just 379 club games for Ajax and AC Milan. That form saw him win the Ballon d’Or on three occasions, while his goals fired the Netherlands to the 1988 European Championship title, their first and only international trophy.

Unfortunately, though, he struggled with an ankle injury, which required three surgeries. The last came after an aggressive tackle from Basile Boli in the 1993 Champions League final – he never played for the Rossoneri again and retired aged 31. He recently spoke about how he would have managed had he been able to play a little longer, saying: “I would have liked to see how things turned out if I could have played until the age of 38, I think I would have been better [than Cristiano Ronaldo].”

3Michel Platini

Retired at 32

Younger fans will likely only know Platini as a morally questionable former UEFA president, but he was one of the best players on the planet back in his heyday. A three-time Ballon d’Or winner, all in consecutive years, the Frenchman won all there was to win at club level and scored nine goals in five matches as France triumphed at Euro 84 on home soil.

Just three years later, though, the former Juventus and St. Etienne playmaker retired at the age of just 32, although he did make a brief foray back into the game – for one day, to be exact – to represent Kuwait against the Soviet Union in an international friendly way back in 1988.

2Zinedine Zidane

Retired at 34

Zinedine Zidane was 34 by the time he retired after the 2006 World Cup, which is a good age to do so. However, his performances at the tournament suggested he had plenty more left in the tank. The France playmaker was at his irresistible best throughout the tournament as Les Bleus reached the final. It was meant to be the perfect end to Zidane’s illustrious career, but it turned into a nightmare when he infamously headbutted Marco Materazzi in injury time and was sent off as a result. Italy prevailed on penalties, with Zidane’s final match, therefore, ending in disgrace and defeat.

Despite his actions, he was awarded the Golden Ball for the tournament’s best player the following day. Given all he achieved in the game, it was a shame his career ended in such controversy – his legacy deserved more than that. At the very least, he has maintained his legendary status and contributed to the game as a brilliant manager, winning the Champions League three times with Real Madrid.

1George Best

Retired at 28

At the peak of his powers, Best was one of the greatest players on the planet. At his worst, his off-the-field problems overshadowed the talent that he possessed. The Northern Ireland international helped Manchester United win the European Cup in 1968, while he scored 179 goals in 410 games for the Red Devils.

He even won the Ballon d’Or the year of United’s continental success, but his and the team’s decline started in the aftermath. Best was consumed by alcoholism by the time he retired, for a second time, in 1974 aged 28. He did actually return to the sport after just 12 months but never found his previous level, and then finally retired for good a whole nine years later. Sadly, the legend passed away in 2005.