“What’s the lowest-ranked club side to send a player to the World Cup? Has anyone from the second or third tier popped up in a WC finals?” tweets George Davidson.
Second or third? How about the seventh tier? But first, let’s acknowledge some of the higher-profile players who went to a World Cup while slumming it in the lower leagues. “Some scandals in Italy that resulted in clubs being relegated provide a few examples,” writes Jonathan Bartley. “In 1982, during the fallout from the Totonero scandal, Milan were relegated to Serie B for the second time in three seasons, this time on sporting merit. That summer Franco Baresi and Fulvio Collovati were in Italy’s World Cup-winning squad, with Collovati playing every game, and Joe Jordan scored for Scotland against the USSR.
