- With less than six months to the World Cup, football fans, as well as players, get anxious as we near to the tournament
- In most cases, top players usually have bigger chances to play in the World Cup
- However Some of the top players will unfortunately not be able to participate in this year’s World Cup
Many people found the qualification process for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be difficult. Several football titans have secured their spots for the quadrennial event.
Brazil kept their record of appearing in every World Cup. In the meantime, Canada qualified for the Olympics for the first time since 1986.
Nonetheless, some soccer stars failed to secure a place in Qatar 2022. This will result in some significant stars missing football’s biggest event.
Let’s look at the top footballers who will be absent from the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
7. Gianluigi Donnarumma- Italy
Gianluigi Donnarumma. Photo: Eurosport
Donnarumma, the Euro 2020 Player of the Tournament, will not compete in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. The PSG star was unable to lead Italy to Qatar.
The Italian team failed to qualify for the tournament for the second time in a row. They were also unsuccessful in 2018.
Italy finished second in their group, trailing Switzerland. They were eliminated in the playoffs’ first round by whipping boys North Macedonia. Gianluigi Donnarumma was chastised for his contribution to their winning goal.
6 Jan Oblak- Slovenia
Jak Oblak. Photo: MARCA
The goalkeeper is currently regarded as one of the best in the world. He was instrumental in Atletico Madrid’s title victory last season, but he has yet to regain his form this season. Slovenia’s qualifying campaign demonstrated this.
Jan Oblak still hasn’t played in the FIFA World Cup and will also miss this year’s tournament. They finished fourth in their division. Slovenia has not competed in the competition since 2010.
5. Luis Diaz -Colombia
Since his arrival, the Diaz has taken the Premier League by storm. He joined Liverpool in January and has scored several goals. The forward, however, could not lead the Colombian team to the World Cup in Qatar.
Colombia finished position sixth in the CONMEBOL Qualifiers, one point short of a playoff spot. In the standings, Peru defeated them.
Luis Diaz was Copa America’s joint leading scorer last year but will not play in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
4. Zlatan Ibrahimovic- Sweden
Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Photo: Sporting news
The Sweden international returned from retirement to assist his team in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, but he was incapable of helping. In the final round of European Qualifiers, Sweden was defeated by Poland.
The striker did not take the field at the start of the game. He came on as a substitute with Sweden trailing 2-0.
The 40-year-old is regarded as one of the greatest players of his era. However, his wait for a World Cup engagement continues. Ibrahimovic‘s last World Cup appearance was in 2006.
3. Jorginho- Italy
Jorginho is a significant part of Italy and Chelsea’s midfield and helped lead his country to Euro 2020 victory. He will not, however, compete in the 2022 World Cup.
This year, he finished third in the Ballon d’Or rankings. However, the 29-year-old had been unable to lead Italy to the championship.
Jorginho played a significant role in Azzurri’s demise. In the qualifying playoff game, the midfielder missed two penalties. North Macedonia capitalised on this by scoring in the final minutes
to advance.
Erling Haaland- Norway
Haaland is football’s next big thing. The former Borussia Dortmund forward is expected to overtake Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player in the world.
He is a goal machine, having scored 80 goals in 82 games for his club.
Despite his Dortmund achievements, Haaland could not inspire the Norwegian national team during their World Cup qualifying campaign.
Norway finished second to the Netherlands and Turkey in their 2022 World Cup qualification group.
Having scored five goals in qualifying, Haaland could not get Norway into the flight to Qatar World Cup.
1. Mohamed Salah- Egypt
Mohamed Salah. Photo: DW
Mohamed Salah has dramatically disappointed on the international stage in 2022, despite his remarkable form at Liverpool.
It all started with a penalty shootout loss to Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations final, and the despair didn’t stop there. Salah’s Egypt team was defeated again by Senegal, this time in a crucial World Cup qualifier.
Egypt suffered a humiliating defeat after the Liverpool star missed his penalty in a penalty shootout. Salah has been one of the top players this season, scoring 28 goals and assisting ten times in 35 appearances.
He is also the Premier League’s top goalscorer. However, due to a cruel twist of fate, the 29-year-old will be unable to compete in the World Cup.
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