Captain of Italy in '06. Coach of Uzbekistan in '26.

Fabio Cannavaro lifted the World Cup as Italy's captain in 2006, and won the Ballon d'Or the same year. Twenty years on, Italy isn't even here — Bosnia knocked them out in a March playoff. But Cannavaro is. He leads Uzbekistan, at their first World Cup ever, out at the Azteca to open Group K. He didn't qualify them — Timur Kapadze did. He just gets to write the ending.