Camila Sosa
Meet the stars without World Cup. These are the players who failed to lead their national teams to the highest football competition worldwide.
Every footballer dreams of representing their country in the World Cup, but not everyone can achieve it. The players who appear in this list show us that the quality and success they show week by week with their clubs is not enough to participate in such an important tournament in which only the best participate.
Mohamed Salah – Egypt
Mohamed Salah’s quality is not in doubt despite being one of the stars without a World Cup. The Egyptian player was left out of the Qatar 2022 World Cup by losing to Senegal in a penalty shootout.
Salah missed his shot from the penalty spot, but he was not the only one as his team only scored one of the shots executed. The Liverpool striker ceded the place to his teammate, Sadio Mané, who was his rival in that defining match.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic – Sweden
The Swedish Zlatan Ibrahimovic is part of this top 5 stars without World Cup. The player was looking to reach his third World Cup but he did not succeed, as Sweden lost in the UEFA playoff against Poland and was eliminated from the World Cup.
The AC Milan striker retired from the Swedish national team a while ago, but he decided to return in this World Cup process to help his country. Unfortunately, he will not be in Qatar.
Alexis Sánchez – Chile
Alexis Sánchez, Arturo Vidal and Claudio Bravo failed to qualify Chile for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The World Cup Qualifiers were turbulent for the Andean country that changed its coach in search of improving its walk and being able to position itself better in the Conmebol table, in search of reaching the World Cup. They will be absent from this World Cup, in the same way they did from the last edition in Russia 2018.
Chile finished in seventh position in Conmebol with 19 points, after five wins, four draws and nine losses.
James Rodríguez – Colombia
James Rodríguez was the author of the winning goal in Colombia’s last match in the World Cup Qualifiers. The win against Venezuela was of no use as the team did not get the ticket to the World Cup. Colombia needed one point more in order to visit Qatar, and finished in sixth place in Conmebol with 23 points, with five wins, eight draws and five losses.
Like Rodríguez, his compatriot, Luis Díaz was another one of the stars without a World Cup.
Riyad Mahrez – Algeria
Riyad Mahrez is known for being an important piece in Manchester City, and perhaps it was the main reason why several people began to track down the Algerian national team. The player came close to achieving the feat and leading his team to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but he eventually became one of the stars without a World Cup. Algeria lost by a score of 1-2 in extra time to Cameroon, so the latter will be the ones to participate in the FIFA tournament.
