Football stars and teams that we will miss in the World Cup in Qatar

Who are the best teams not playing in the World Cup in Qatar

1. Italy (FIFA ranking 6) - won the European Championship as recently as last year, but first missed the group win to Switzerland in the qualification and then managed to get knocked out by North Macedonia in the first playoff phase.
2. Colombia (FIFA ranking 17) - missed out on the World Cup after only finishing sixth in the South American qualifying group. Their charming football will be missed in Qatar.
3. Peru (FIFA ranking 23) - finished fifth in the qualifying series and had to face Australia in a playoff match which they lost on penalties.
4. Sweden (FIFA ranking 25) - were in a position to win their qualification group halfway through the series but collapsed in the second half, and then lost the last playoff meeting against Poland.
5. Ukraine (FIFA ranking 27) - finished second in the qualifying series, knocked out Scotland in the first playoff round but then lost to Wales in the final round.
6. Chile (FIFA ranking 29) - finished only seventh in the qualifying game and was not close to qualifying this time.
7. Nigeria (FIFA ranking 32) - the African team that we will miss the most, especially since there is a large immigration group of people from Nigeria in Qatar. They were eliminated by Ghana in the last qualifying round.
8. Russia (FIFA ranking 33) - excluded due to their war against Ukraine...
9. Austria (FIFA ranking 34) - came second in the qualifying series and were eliminated in the first playoff round against Wales.
10. Czech Republic (FIFA ranking 35) - the Czechs played very nice and attractive football in the European Championship last year but were eliminated by Sweden in the first playoff round.

Mohamed Salah - a player we will not see playing in Qatar

The best strikers we won't see in the World Cup in Qatar

1. Erling Braut Haaland, Norway - probably the best striker in the world right now. Started the season at Manchester City scoring like possessed. Although his goalscoring has stagnated a bit in recent weeks and is less hot right now, he will be the most missed player in the World Cup.
2. Mohamed Salah, Egypt - one of the world's best scorers in recent years and still one of the biggest names in football.
3. Victor Osimhen, Nigeria - this 23-year-old Nigerian is one of the reasons why his Napoli have done as well as they have this season, he also leads the current top scorer in Serie A right now.
4. Ciro Immobile, Italy - he is not the biggest name missing from the Italian team but as a goalscorer he will be missed, although he has never been the same goalscorer in the national team as he is for his Lazio.
5. Patrik Schick, Czech Republic - he won the Golden Boot winner in the UEFA European Championship last year together with Cristiano Ronaldo with 5 goals scored.
6. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Gabon - one of the biggest profiles in football in the last decade. However, he is the player on this list who was most expected to miss the World Cup as his Gabon is never really a contender to qualify.
7. Luis Diaz, Colombia - Liverpool's Colombian took the world by storm during his first time at Liverpool last winter but, due to injuries, has not made much of an impression this autumn.
8. Riyad Mahrez, Algeria - although he is not a striker, Mahrez scores a lot of goals, including 27 goals for his Algeria.
9. Alexander Isak, Sweden - he was one of the world's hottest young strikers recently, and started brilliantly at his new club Newcastle this season but only played a few games before getting injured. Estimated to be back in action after World Cup.
10. Alexis Sanchez, Chile - it has been many years since he was at his peak during his brilliant years at Arsenal. In the national team, however, he has always delivered, as 49 national team goals in his career prove.
11. Marko Arnautovic, Austria - this old profile is on his way to his best season ever, being second in the scoring list in Serie A at the moment, but in the World Cup we will have to do without Arnautovic.

Paul Pogba - will not hold the World Cup trophy this year for sure

The best players to miss the World Cup due to injuries

• Sadio Mané, Senegal - that Senegal will qualify for the World Cup is anything but a certainty, and doing so and then to miss it due to injury less than two weeks before when you are 30 years old is of course extra heavy. However, it should be added that despite his injury, he is selected in the World Cup squad of Senegal, but that he will be fit to play is not likely.
• Paulo Dybala, Argentina - has been injured since October but is somewhat in the same situation as Mané, he is selected despite being injured and despite earlier reports that he would not be able to participate. We'll see if he will play in Qatar though, Argentina doesn't exactly have a shortage of good strikers so it will likely he will not play if he's not 100% fit.
• Diogo Jota, Portugal - another one of Liverpool's stars to miss the World Cup. In Jota's case, it is a calf injury that causes him to miss this championship.
• Paul Pogba, France - he hasn't played a single game since returning to Juventus as he suffered from a damaged meniscus, which then forced surgery, ending Pogba's chances of playing in the World Cup this time.
• N'Golo Kanté, France - another French midfield star to miss the World Cup, in Kante's case a stubborn knee injury.
• Marco Reus, Germany - few footballers are as unlucky as Reus when it comes to major championships. He has previously missed the World Cup 2014 as well as the European Championships 2016 and 2021 (2020) due to injuries, and this time he is forced to stay home from a fourth championship due to injury.
• Timo Werner, Germany - this German didn't make many fans happy at Chelsea but after returning to comfortable surroundings at RB Leipzig, he has slowly started to deliver again. Unfortunately, he misses the WC despite this as he suffers from an ankle injury.
• Georginio Wijnaldum - this Dutchman with a total of 86 international matches and 26 national team goals on his merit list broke his leg in training with his Roma, and thus this 32-year-old misses a final World Cup in his career.
• Reece James and Ben Chilwell, England - Chelsea's two English full-back internationals will miss the World Cup. In James's case it has been clear for a long time that he would miss out, in Chilwell's case he suffered a cruciate ligament injury just over a week ago, ruling him out as well.