Top 10 football superstars set to miss the FIFA World Cup: Haaland, Dybala, Ibrahimovic...
Mo Salah, Paulo Dybala, Haaland, and the legendary Zlatan will all miss out on the FIFA men's world cup 2022, but they aren't the only ones...
Football
Alfredo Di Stefano, George Best, George Weah, Eric Cantona, Laszlo Kubala, Duncan Edwards - some of the greatest ever to kick a ball never played at a football World Cup.
Whether because their nation didn't qualify or through injury, eligibility, or just bad luck, some of the finest never got a chance to dazzle on football's biggest stage.
And the 2022 World Cup will be no different with some of world's most famous stars missing out on in Qatar.
Read on for the top ten players who we will not see at this unprecedented winter World Cup.
1. Erling Haaland (Norway)
He's scored 20 goals in his first 12 English Premier and Champions League games for Manchester City and doesn't look like letting up anytime soon.
Haaland has exploded onto the football scene in England and is in the form of his life, the first Fantasy Premier League selection for fans, but will not play at Qatar 2022 as his country Norway did not qualify, despite the big man bagging five goals in six games in the qualifiers.
He brings such entertainment to planet football that there's even an online petition to allow each team to bring him on once during the tournament for 30 minutes.
While that's unlikely to happen, spare a thought for defences across Europe when they get back from Qatar and have to face a bright, fresh, and fitter than ever Erling Haaland who will have enjoyed a month's rest.
He's not a robot, he's just as consistent as one, and at 22 there's so much more to come.
2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
'Zlatan doesn't need the World Cup, the World Cup needs Zlatan' is something you can imagine the great one saying, but sadly the world won't get to enjoy his talents on the pitch, nor his headline-hogging phrase-making off it at Qatar 2022.
Sweden lost out to Robert Lewandowski's Poland in a play-off and deprived us of a third World Cup appearance from the great Swede.
Now 41, Zlatan still isn't hanging up the boots, despite injury worries likely keeping him off the pitch until January 2023.
"The future? I hope to keep going as long as I'm healthy and can contribute," he said after the loss to Poland in March.
Most recently in September when pushed by Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport to name a retirement date the apocryphal striker said:
"I'll retire when I see a player stronger than me."
Classic Zlatan.
3. Sergio Ramos
The Spanish central defender has been in impressive form for PSG this season, leading many to believe the 36-year-old would get a recall to Luis Enrique's squad, but that proved not to be the case.
The 2010 World Cup winner, and two-time European Champion with Spain also boasts four Champions League titles with former club Real Madrid.
4. Will Mo Salah play at Qatar 2022?
Mo Salah will not play at Qatar 2022, sadly for his army of Egypt and Liverpool fans, his nation were knocked out on penalties in a play-off against Senegal.
Even more painful for Salah fans was the fact that Mo missed his penalty in the shootout that decided the tie, while his ex-Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane scored to send Senegal to Qatar.
It wasn't without controversy as the Egyptian magician was apparently targeted by multiple lasers from the crowd as he went to take his spot kick.
The end result is that Senegal are on their way to the World Cup and Salah's smile and exciting, attacking football will be missed.
5. Luis Diaz (Colombia)
Colombia's underwhelming qualifying campaign means we won't see stars of the dimension of Radamel Falcao, James Rodriguez, Juan Cuadrado and superstar-in-the-making Luis Diaz.
Diaz has impressed at Liverpool since making the move from Porto, but sadly his considerable skill set will not be on show in Qatar.
Colombia failed to make it out of the notoriously difficult CONMEBOL qualifying group after too many draws, scoring only 20 goals in 18 games (compared to Brazil's 40).
Los Cafeteros finished behind Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, and Peru on the final table in sixth place, just outside the play-off place that went to Peru.
Relatively young at 25, Colombia fans will hope that Diaz can lead them to the next one in four years set to be held closer to home in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
6. Victor Osimhen (Nigeria)
It all looked so good for the up-and-coming Napoli striker after he scored four goals in the group stage of AFCON qualifying for Nigeria.
But it all unravelled in the third stage as the Super Eagles failed to score against Ghana away in Kumasi, then drew 1-1 at home in Abuja, Ghana going through on away goals.
It was a failure Osimhen felt deeply and even later apologised to the fans saying:
"We need to first say sorry to Nigerians. A lot of people still support us but what we need to do is to try to get all our supporters back 100%. We are on the right path, doing things well with the new coach [Peseiro] and technical staff.
"But everyone is sad, nobody is happy even now the pain lingers and forever it will."
At 23 he'll surely get another swing at it.
7. Martin Odegaard (Norway)
Martin Odegaard will tear you apart if you let him.
The Norwegian wonderkid was brought into Real Madrid when he was just 16, but failing to break into the midfield monopolised by Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, Odegaard has found a home at Arsenal in North London.
He's a big reason why Arsenal are top of the Premier League at the time of writing, his three goals and one assist in eight games don't tell the story of just how much he does for the team.
A first touch like Zidane with the vision of Pirlo, Odegaard glides over the grass like an exception to gravity and it's a shame we won't see him in Qatar.
At 23, his simultaneous rise with Haaland gives Norwegian footie fans much hope for the future.
8. Eldor Shomurodov (Uzbekistan)
The Central Asian region doesn't usually get a lot of attention in the soccer sphere, but 'Shomo' as they call him is a quality player who would definitely bring something to the World Cup stage.
Currently plying his trade under Jose Mourinho at AS Roma, the 27-year-old is a tireless worker and a real team player who captains his national side and has an impressive 32 goals in 59 games for the Uzbeki White Wolves.
Uzbekistan have never qualified for the World Cup despite coming close on a number of occasions, they finished behind Saudi Arabia in second place in their AFC group this time around.
9. Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)
Algerian magician Riyad Mahrez didn't make it to Qatar either, the 31-year-old winger has dazzled in the Premier League during Leicester's finest moment and now at Manchester City.
He's been crucial to Algeria too, topping the scoring charts for his nation with five goals as they reached the CAF play-offs in top spot in Group A just ahead of Burkina Faso.
However, after a 1-0 win in Cameroon that felt like half a foot on the plane to Doha, the north Africans were sensationally turned over in the second leg, losing 2-1 in Blida to miss out on World Cup qualification on the away-goals rule.
Algeria's captain may have seen his last shot at World Cup glory disappear, and he'll be missed by football fans everywhere in the Middle East.
10. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy)
Last but by no means least, Italian 'keeper Donnarumma might have been the hero at Wembley when he saved the penalty that helped Italy to the Euro 2020 continental title, but World Cup qualification slipped out of his gloves.
The Azzurri, stacked with big names like his PSG teammate Marco Verratti could only finish second in their UEFA qualifying group behind Switzerland, and were then stunned in their playoff semi-final by North Macedonia.
A young Italian side coached by Roberto Mancini won't experience the World Cup this time around, but at 23 hopefully we'll see both Donnarumma, Verratti, and their teammates in four years' time.
This article was amended following Paulo Dybala's inclusion in the Argentina squad. There were fears he could miss the World Cup due to a freak injury he suffered while taking a penalty for his club Roma, but he has been deemed fit enough to join his teammates in Qatar.