The main lesson I learned from 2015 is that a World Cup doesn't define a player's career.
AB de Villiers
The World Cup is a tough tournament.
Winning an official World Cup with the South African team had become my burning ambition.
I've made peace with the fact that the World Cup will not define me. Yes, it would be nice to add that to what's been a very enjoyable career, but I know it won't define me as a person or cricketer.
Yes, I would have loved to win it, but I have great memories from World Cups. The 2007 tournament - my first - was very special.
I want to reduce my risks as much as possible and hopefully be able to go to the World Cup fit, ready and healthy.
Abby Wambach
I'm not spending every second thinking about the World Cup, but it's always in my mind when I make choices and decisions.
I would trade all the individual awards I've won for a World Cup.
I haven't won a World Cup. There's things that haven't been finished, and I'm not afraid to fall flat on my face trying.
My sole focus is to help bring a World Cup back to the U.S.
Nobody is offered a World Cup.
During events like the World Cup and the Olympics, I tend to get really wrapped up in my own experience to stay focused, but it's like a bubble. I don't see much outside my own perspective.
At the most elite level, your nutrition becomes a lifestyle: it's not something you have to do when you're preparing for Olympic games or World Cup games - you just do it. You're more inclined to eat healthier because it's better for your muscles.
Yes, I'm having World Cup withdrawals; but no, this is sneaky of me to say, but I actually care about Tottenham more than I care about the England team.
AJ Tracey
I think the World Cup is going to be bigger than what a lot of people are anticipating. At this stage in my career, when there is an opportunity, albeit a small one, of being on the team, what a great way to possibly end my career.
Al Leiter
In '82 Brazil showed that you can't win the World Cup without a solid defense.
Alan Hansen
The boy can do anything, but to be the star of the World Cup you have got to get to the final and win it!
I played against the Brazilians in '82, who were definitely the best team never to have won the World Cup.
The World Cup needs a brilliant Brazilian team.
When I was made captain, one of my things was that whatever happens in those four years, you don't want to make major changes just before a World Cup. We'd done it before, and it never worked.
Alastair Cook
Scoring a goal in a World Cup was my dream as a little girl. I didn't really dream of being in 'Maxim' when I was 5.
I am hugely honored to represent my country in the Olympics and in World Cups, and I'm grateful for all the advantages being a professional soccer player brings my way - the opportunities to see the world, the camaraderie and friendships, and more.
It wasn't until 1999 when my idols Mia Hamm and Kristine Lilly took home the women's World Cup trophy at the Rose Bowl in front of 40 million TV viewers that I remember thinking how rare it was to see women play sports on TV.
My goal against Italy in the World Cup qualifier was probably my most memorable: we had to go to Italy and had to win, or we wouldn't go to the World Cup, and I scored in stoppage time.
I remember watching David Beckham scoring that free-kick at Old Trafford to take England to a World Cup. Things like that stick with you. I was at Southsea, waiting to board a hovercraft for the Isle of Wight. We ended up missing it because we were more interested in watching the big screen.
I got to be around an England team at a World Cup in Brazil, and that was an amazing experience.
I may not have played men's football, but I've been at World Cups as a player. I know the emotions. I've been in quarter finals, a semi-final. I'd been substituted and sat on the bench watching us lose a penalty shoot-out. I know what happens, what you need when the pressure's on.
I was an attacking full-back but was told by Hope Powell to just sit back when we played U.S.A. in the 2007 World Cup. It's hard to rein yourself in, but the team comes first.
I loved getting messages from people saying they were watching during the World Cup with their son or daughter, and they could see they could be involved, too. That was so powerful.
The first one is your first World Cup, so you go into it with a lot of pressure, trying to take it all in, but you are just so focused.
Even when I play in World Cups, I don't look at things like that. It's something that I want to be doing, so why would I put extra pressure on myself? I'm just going to go out there and enjoy it.
In the 2007 World Cup, Kelly Smith went to another level, scoring twice against Japan and dragging the team forward with an infectious enthusiasm. She changed the dynamic, and we all followed her lead.
I played in three World Cups, and I would say that it was the last one that I enjoyed the most.
People ask me, 'What were you thinking during that game-winning penalty kick in the 2011 World Cup?' I was actually thinking absolutely nothing. I just walked up there and was so inspired by my teammates who rocked all their PKs; they just killed it. I figured I might as well do the same, or they might have my neck.
Being a World Cup winner was a dream come true.
This is something I've dreamed of for a long, long time - to play in a World Cup.
The World Cup focus is football. Team U.S.A. is more than football.
I joke that I only play in World Cups.
It is well documented that I am a lifelong football fan. My love of the British game started with the 1966 World Cup.
I'd love to feature for the Barbarians. I'd love to win a Champions Cup, and I'd love to get to another World Cup and make a fist of it: get to a World Cup final at least and see what could have been, particularly after 2011 when Wales reached the semi-finals.
For Spain, the more I play, the more goals I score, the more chance I have of making the World Cup and starting games.
To play a World Cup for your country is everything you dream of.
I wanted to do a sports movie and discussed the same with my friend Jagdeep Sidhu, who is the writer of 'Harjeeta.' In the same year, the picture of Harjeet sleeping with the world cup went viral and caught Jagdeep's attention.
You win the World Cup, you're just flying.
When you come to a World Cup with Germany you are expected to win it.
Sometimes I forget, then suddenly I find myself thinking, 'God - I won the World Cup, didn't I?'
Messi is always compared to Maradona, but he needs to win the World Cup because if you don't win the World Cup, you can't be up there with the very best.
I spent the afternoon of Sunday 9 July, 2006 in Berlin sleeping and playing the PlayStation. In the evening, I went out and won the World Cup.
It's the best thing that can happen to a player. Being able to play at the World Cup is already the best, but then to raise the trophy to the sky is a dream.
I want to be the world's number one one-day player; I want to win a World Cup, win the championship with Lancashire - those are my motivations.
