Has any footballer won the World Cup and nothing else in their career?

“Who are football’s greatest one-trophy wonders?” asks Will Healy. “Has anybody won the World Cup and nothing else during their career?”

This is a great question, best addressed while listening to Joe Dolce and Toto on loop. Let’s start with some current players whose only success to date is the biggest of them all. Nabil Fekir came on as a substitute in six of France’s seven games at the 2018 World Cup, including the final against Croatia. Thus far that’s the only winner’s medal of his senior career, though it would have been a different story had a move to Liverpool not collapsed in 2018.

The Germany squad that won in 2014 also included a couple of one-trophy wonders: the midfielder Christoph Kramer, who started the final when Sami Khedira was injured in the warm-up, and the reserve goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler. (Pedants may point out that Zieler was an unused sub in one match during Manchester United’s Carling Cup-winning run in 2008-09, but he didn’t get on so we’re not counting it.)

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There are also a few retired players who fit the profile, including a couple from England’s 1966 squad. The great right-back George Cohen, who played every minute of that campaign, spent his entire club career at Fulham, and we won’t insult your intelligence by confirming what that means vis-a-vis trophy-lifting.

The other member of the England squad without club honours was the much adored Jimmy Armfield, who spent his entire career at Blackpool. For the record, Ron Springett and Terry Paine, who were also in the squad, won relatively minor honours: Springett won Division Two with Sheffield Wednesday in 1958-59, while Paine won the Welsh Cup with Hereford and Division Three with both Hereford and Southampton.

The same is true of Luis Galvan, a zealous defender who won the World Cup with Argentina in 1978. He won a number of regional titles with Talleres de Córdoba, but we’re 99% sure he didn’t win any national competitions. We’re equally confident that Ruben Moran, who lifted the 1950 World Cup with Uruguay at the age of 19, won nothing else during his short career.

There’s also the elegant Uwe Bein, one of a number of high-class schemers in a brilliant West Germany squad at Italia 90. He started four of the seven games and scored a good goal against the United Arab Emirates. His winner’s medal was the only one of his career, though he picked up plenty of individual accolades for being an assist machine. Two others who deserve a mention are the legendary Toni Turek (goalkeeper, West Germany, 1954) and Simone Barone (midfielder, Italy, 2006).

Red cards for players of the match

“Federico Valverde was awarded the Supercopa’s man of the match last year despite being sent off for his mesmerising professional foul,” begins Stuart Goodwin. “But have any players been sent off, scored own goals or committed other calamities after being named man of the match?”

This will surely happen to a co-commentator like Gary Neville or Glenn Hoddle (“an unfortunate jumping the gun scenario”) one day. But it has already happened to the BBC’s Jayne Ludlow. “The most recent example I can think of is Lauren James winning player of the match during Manchester United’s 3-0 WSL win at Spurs in 2019,” writes Mark Jameson, “and then really making the ‘commentator’s curse’ work.”

The next story will take some beating. “Cambridge captain and centre-back Leon Legge was sent off after being named man of the match v Accrington Stanley in October 2016,” recalls Richard Fosbeary. “Legge had quite a game; he was defensively rock solid and scored Cambridge’s opening goal. In the 90th minute, and after the announcement, Legge was sent off and conceded a penalty, which was saved. The U’s then conceded a second penalty, with another Cambridge defender sent off for handling the ball on the line. Will Norris saved again, Cambridge went on to win 2-1 and somewhere there is a picture of Legge sheepishly holding a bottle of champagne after the game.”

Last, but emphatically not least, there’s a legendary variation on this theme. “At the 2006 World Cup, Zinedine Zidane was awarded the Golden Ball for player of the tournament,” writes Brian Cloughley. “The voting closed at half-time during the final. If they’d waited until the game was finished, and seen Zizou driving his head into Marco Materazzi’s sternum, a different decision might have been reached.”

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Heraldry and football

“When reading about two of my passions, football and heraldry (yes, really), I came across a 2015 article in which the York Herald from the College of Arms encouraged English clubs to register their badges and said some might be acting unlawfully otherwise,” mails Rich Booth. “Has any club since registered a badge as a heraldic device, or been penalised for not doing so?”

Niche knows no bounds at The Knowledge. A blast on the bugle and John Pearson unravels his scroll to reveal this: “Many years ago I was taught at Baines School, Poulton-le-Fylde, by H Ellis Tomlinson (1916–1997). He was a keen supporter of Blackpool FC, writing the official history, Seasiders: The First Hundred Years – A History Of Blackpool Football Club, 1887-1987 published by Blackpool Football Club. I wonder how many football clubs are also publishers? He was also a heraldist with several published works. Among other arms, he designed the heraldic shield for the Football Association of Wales. A few more details here.”

Knowledge archive

“Who is the most gifted player never to have won a medal?” wondered Gary Scott in 2004.

Clearly this is a subjective area, hence the suggestion of Dion Dublin (you know who you are ... Ed Haygarth), but most of you put your eggs firmly in one of three baskets: Tom Finney, Matt Le Tissier and Beppe Signori.

“Tom Finney,” begins Mark Smith. “It’s not even worth arguing about.” And it is a bit of an injustice that Jonathan Greening has a European Cup medal and Preston’s favourite son doesn’t have any - apart from an FA Cup runners-up medal from 1954, when Preston lost 3-2 to West Brom in the final.

But some of you felt it was worth arguing about. “Although he was top goalscorer in Serie A three times with Lazio in the early 1990s, Beppe Signori never won a thing,” says Richard Moore. “He was even dropped for the 1994 World Cup final after refusing to play on the wing.”

Then there’s Le Tissier, every neutral’s favourite player in the 1990s. “He is surely the most gifted player never to win a medal,” says Oliver Webb. “Arguably the world’s greatest-ever player never even got close - unless you count a runners-up medal in the Zenith Data Systems Cup in 1992.” We don’t, Oliver - and more to the point, we’re pretty confident he doesn’t either.

Can you help?

“In view of the recent attention around Ederson potentially taking penalties for Manchester City, has a goalkeeper ever finished top scorer for their club over the course of a season?” asks Alan White.

“Sunderland’s Charlie Wyke recently four headers in one match against Doncaster. Is this a record or has some player managed to score more goals with his head during a single game?” asks Bogdan Kotarlic.

• Email your questions and answers to knowledge@theguardian.com or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU.