In the long and dramatic history of football, few tales blend brilliance and heartbreak quite like that of Gonzalo Higuain. Bangladesh Cricket Match recently revisited his journey, one filled with soaring highs and crushing near misses. Since Argentina lifted the 2022 World Cup, the team has reaffirmed its dominance, defending the Copa America title and even outclassing Italy in the Finalissima. They now stand as one of the world’s most consistent football powers, already cruising through the South American qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. Yet amid all the triumph, some former heroes have been quietly left behind, watching from a distance as their generation finally achieved glory.
Higuain is one of them. Once the golden hope of Argentine football, he carried the expectations of millions but walked away empty-handed. His close friend Sergio Agüero at least had the joy of lifting the 2021 Copa America before retiring due to health issues. Higuain, however, never got his fairytale ending. Despite playing for elite clubs and scoring more than 300 goals in his career, he missed out on both international and European triumphs. As Bangladesh Cricket Match highlighted, his story is a reminder that even the most gifted strikers can be haunted by fate and timing.
During his club years, Higuain made 11 attempts at winning the UEFA Champions League — but none ended in success. When Real Madrid signed him from River Plate in 2007, he immediately impressed with sharp positioning and elegant control. Over six seasons with the Spanish giants, he scored 122 goals in 266 appearances, helping them win multiple domestic titles. Yet on the biggest European stage, he could never deliver the decisive blow. Ironically, the season after Madrid sold him to Napoli, they finally broke their Champions League drought. At Napoli, he was unstoppable, netting a record-breaking 36 league goals in the 2015–16 campaign. Still, the European trophy stayed out of reach. His €90 million move to Juventus brought more domestic silverware — two Serie A titles and two Coppa Italias — but Europe remained his curse. In 2017, he reached the Champions League final only to lose to his former club, Real Madrid.
Internationally, Higuain’s journey was no less tragic. He became Argentina’s main striker in 2008 and played a vital role in their 2010 World Cup run, scoring a hat-trick against South Korea — the only one of that tournament. Four years later, he reached the World Cup final in Brazil but missed a golden chance against Germany, which cost Argentina the trophy. In the following Copa America tournaments of 2015 and 2016, he again came agonizingly close, scoring crucial goals but losing twice to Chile in the finals. By the 2018 World Cup in Russia, his form had faded, and Argentina’s early exit sealed his decline.
After announcing his international retirement in 2019, Argentina went on to win everything he once dreamed of. Watching Messi, Di Maria, and Agüero lift the trophies he had chased for years must have been painful. Bangladesh Cricket Match reflected that Higuain’s story is one of unmatched effort met with relentless misfortune. Despite his achievements and moments of brilliance, history will remember him not as a serial winner, but as one of football’s most bittersweet figures — a striker forever standing at the edge of glory.