The playoffs they do not stop accumulating weight victims. Just as several teams celebrated the passage to the Qatar World Cup, others, with figures in their ranks, fell by the wayside. And many of the footballers who delight their clubs week after week will miss the ecumenical event. And it will be one less draw for sports fans. Here, a list of the great absentees from the next World Cup.
Gianluigi Donnarumma
The 23-year-old goalkeeper was the great figure of Italy in the European Championship that his team won. However, his level fell down a slide after PSG’s defeat against Real Madrid in the Champions League, in which it was decisive, given that his mistake led to Merengue’s reaction. They could do nothing in the playoff against North Macedonia, who won in stoppage time and left the Azzurra without a World Cup.
David Alaba
The 29-year-old center-back marker shines at Real Madrid and was a multi-champion at Bayern Munich. However, he failed to lead the Austrian team to the World Cup: he lost to Wales in the run-up to the Repechage final.
Marco Verratti
Another Italian star who will see the World Cup on TV. The midfielder, and perhaps Messi’s best partner to date at PSG, misses out on his second consecutive World Cup at the age of 29.
Erling Haland
The Borussia Dortmund attacker, pointed out by specialists, along with Kylian Mbappé, as the heir to Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, will not participate in the meeting because Norway. His team (and that of Martin Odegaard, another great value) was third in Group G of the European qualifiers, behind the Netherlands (classified) and Turkey, who did not make the Portugal cut in the playoffs.
Pierre Emerick Aubameyang
The 32-year-old striker, today again at a high level in Barcelona, is the victim of a team that was not up to the task: Gabon.
Mohammed Salah
At 29, the Liverpool man is one of today’s best attackers. However, he ended up being decisive in the elimination of Egypt, which lost on penalties to Senegal: he missed the first attempt of the series.
Riyadh Mahrez
The 31-year-old Manchester City figure was left at the door with Algeria. They fell 2-1 to Cameroon in the 194th minute of the key and watched from the grass as the chance slipped away.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
At the age of 40, the legendary striker saw his last chance to play in a World Cup pass. He came on in the second half, but was unable to reverse his team’s 2-0 loss to Robert Lewandowski’s Poland. The winner of The Best award will go to Qatar.
James Rodriguez, Luis Diaz and Juan Guillermo Cuadrado
The closing of the South American Qualifiers confirmed the withdrawal of Colombia from the World Cup in Qatar. With this absence, the World Cup event will not feature the three great coffee stars either. Although Reinaldo Rueda’s team fulfilled its goal of beating Venezuela as a visitor, it was not enough to get into the Repechage due to Peru’s victory against Paraguay.
Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez
A case similar to that of Colombia occurred with Chile, which arrived with chances of qualifying for the World Cup Repechage. However, on the last date for the South American Qualifiers they could not beat Uruguay (they fell at home 2-0), although they would not have been able to due to the victories of Colombia and Peru. Arturo Vidal and Alexi Sánchez will also not be able to adorn the Qatar World Cup with their presence.
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12 great figures who were left out of the Qatar World Cup