Yes, in a few short weeks it’ll be that time again. Football fans all over will be glued to screens watching one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world that only comes once every 4 years – The World Cup.
Being watched and loved by millions of people all around the globe, Almost every single top-tier player will be out on the pitch to represent their country.
Like every other World Cup, to get through to the tournament, all competing nations had to play and qualify to get through had to get through to the final group stages – and we saw some absolute upsets that would’ve seen you get the best football odds if you had taken a punt!
Big teams such as Italy, Egypt and Colombia didn’t make it through, which means some of the best players in the world won’t be playing. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest names that will be missing from the tournament :
5. Marco Verratti – Italy
Being the reigning champions of Europe with their nail-biting win over England in the Euros 2020, Italy had strong hope for possibly lifting the World Cup in Qatar. But in a shock, they didn’t manage to qualify, which means we’re going to miss some incredible talent.
One of these is Verratti, who plays at club level for Paris Saint Germain. He’s had a stellar season and now holds the record for having the most Ligue 1 winners medals with a solid 8 to his name.
4. Gianluigi Donnarumma – Italy
Another world-class star that will be absent from the pitches in Qatar is their star goalkeeper, Donnarumma.
He became a national hero almost overnight thanks to his impressive saves against England during the tense penalty shootout back in the Euros and has gone from strength to strength for his club PSG.
Despite being awarded player of the competition during those Euros, He couldn’t save his team from not qualifying for the World Cup!
3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Sweden
The cool, confident and even cocky striker is well known both off and on the pitch. He has incredible talent and a rather brash personality to back it up. Always one to put on a show, he actually retired from international football… then returned to help Sweden qualify for the World Cup.
Unfortunately, his only role was a small one as he appeared off the bench for Sweden in a loss against Poland. This is when Zlatan announced his end of international football (again) and returned to playing solely at the club level.
2. Mohamed Salah – Egypt
Salah – who recently signed a new deal with Liverpool – has been a huge part of Liverpool’s dominance in the Premier League for the last 4 / 5 years, with his talent and unstoppable goal-scoring ability scoring his position as one of the greats.
But Egypt didn’t manage to qualify – despite Salah’s incredible 49 goals scored in just 86 international games. We have a feeling Salah will be incredibly upset that his nation didn’t manage to qualify as he’s clearly dedicated – he actually played through the 2018 World Cup with a shoulder injury!
1.Erling Haaland – Norway
To say Erling Haaland has come into the Premier League running would be one of the biggest understatements of the century – In just 8 games for Manchester City, he’s bagged 14 goals, with three consecutive hat-tricks. The man is just unstoppable.
Even though he’s almost single-handedly taking over the Premier League, he won’t be doing the same in Qatar in November. Even with Haaland on their squad, Norway was not able to qualify for the World Cup group stages – which both fans and haters of the player will be sad about – as his talent is undeniable.
Who knows the level of entertainment we could’ve witnessed as Haaland faced off against other big names such as Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe, Neymar or Lewandoski as they represented the pride of their nation.
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