Elegant midfielder Michel Platini was perhaps the best passer of the ball the UFWC has ever seen, not to mention a deadly free-kick specialist, and an incredibly prolific goalscorer.

‘He could thread the ball through the eye of a needle, as well as finish,’ remarked Bobby Charlton, of a player who left an indelible mark on the Unofficial Football World Championships.

Born in 1955, Platini scored a remarkable 41 goals in 72 games from midfield for France, including 15 goals in just 18 UFWC games. He has the same number of UFWC goals as Pele, and many would argue that Platini was the better footballer.

After skippering his country to European Championships and UFWC glory in 1984, Platini was appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honour. He was voted European Footballer of the Year three times in a row in 1983, 1984, and 1985, and World Player of the Year in 1984 and 1985. He later managed France, but failed to match his successes as a player.

Like many of football’s greatest players, Platini never won the World Cup but he can at least add the UFWC title to his impressive list of honours.

During his country’s successful UFWC reign at Euro 84, Platini pulled off a rare footballing feat that still amazes today. In two consecutive games, against Belgium and Yugoslavia, the French captain scored two consecutive ‘perfect’ hat-tricks (one goal with the left foot, one with the right, and one with the head).

Granted, the second goal against Belgium was a right-footed penalty, but they all count.

The first of the six goals was the best: Platini laid a free-kick short to Luis Fernadez, whose thunderous shot hit the crossbar. Platini pounced on the rebound, driving the ball home from the edge of the box.

You can see both hat-tricks in the videos below:

1. Michel Platini UFWC hat-trick vs Belgium, 16 June 1984

2. Michel Platini UFWC hat-trick vs Yugoslavia, 19 June 1984

Hall of Fame France

Steve Bloomer wasn’t content with being arguably the best footballer of his day – he was a star cricketer and baseball player too.

One of the leading goalscorers in UFWC history, he scored 20 goals in 17 title matches between 1895 and 1907. He scored in his first ten matches for England – an enduring record for consecutive games and goals. Among his UFWC tally was five goals in one game against Wales in 1896.

He played the majority of his club career at Derby County, making 473 appearances in two spells, scoring 291 goals. He also scored 61 goals for Middlesborough. 317 of his goals were in the First Division, and he remains the division’s second top scorer after Jimmy Greaves.

Having retired from playing, in an unfortunate case of bad timing, Bloomer took up a coaching position in Berlin just three weeks before the outbreak of the First World War. He was subsequently interned for three and a half years at Ruhleben, where he led his barrack to the camp football championship at the sprightly age of 43.

‘Though his activities are now confined to the narrow limits of Ruhleben,’ reported the Ruhleben camp magazine, ‘Mr Bloomer’s skill on the field of play has been a source of inspiration for our younger players and of genuine pleasure to the onlookers.’

Bloomer returned to his hometown of Derby after the war, and died in 1938. A commemorative bust was unveiled inside Derby’s Pride Park in 2009.

Steve Bloomer, UFWC career 1895-1907, 17 games, 20 goals.

More UFWC Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame England

UFWC Hall of Fame:

Joe Gaetjens scored one of the most famous goals in UFWC history, in the USA’s 1950 World Cup finals win over England.

Born in Haiti in 1924, he moved to the US to study at New York’s Columbia University, and worked as a restaurant dishwasher to pay his way. He played his club football in the US for Brookhatten, in the American Soccer League. (Despite its name, the club played in neither Brooklyn nor Manhattan, but the Bronx.)

Renowned for his speed and style on the football pitch, he cut a distinctive figure with his socks around his ankles. He emerged as Brookhatten’s best player and top scorer, and was selected to represent the USA at the 1950 World Cup.

The US played only three group games at the World Cup before being eliminated, and won only the match against England. Gaejtens was 26 years old when he scored ‘the shot heard around the world’. It was the winner in a 1-0 victory, with Gaetjens diving full-length to deflect a long-range Walter Bahr shot past English keeper Bert Williams. At the full-time whistle, home fans carried the goalscorer from the field on their shoulders.

Gaetjens never played for the US after 1950, but turned out for Haiti in a World Cup qualifier in 1953. He had a brief spell at Troyes in France, then returned to Haiti to open a dry cleaning business.

In 1964 the apolitical Gaetjens was arrested by the Tonton Macoutes, the Haitian secret police, and was never seen again.

15 years later, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights published a report that concluded: ‘The fact that Mr Gaetjens, a football player of international standing, has not been seen since his detention in 1964 leads to the conclusion that he is dead.’

Tragically, witnesses later claimed that, within days of his arrest, Gaetjens was lined up against a wall and shot.

Joe Gaetjens, UFWC career 1950, 2 games, 1 goal.

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Hall of Fame USA