Eleven world-class stars who won’t be at Qatar 2022: Jorginho, Salah, Haaland…
- Cameron Loftus
- 29 March 2022
The World Cup is a showcase for the best players in the world but not all of them will be on the plane to the Middle East this November.
Italy's failure to qualify for their second consecutive World Cup means the finals will be robbed of star names including Jorginho, Marco Verratti and Gianluigi Donnarumma.
They will not be the only big names to miss out on the showpiece, however. Planet Sport picks out 11 players who will be watching on from afar when the tournament kicks off at the end of the year.
Jorginho
We start our list with the man who came third in last year's Ballon d'Or ceremony behind Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski.
Jorginho has enjoyed huge success since signing for Chelsea in 2018 from Napoli and has won the Europa League, Super Cup, Club World Cup and the Champions League at Stamford Bridge.
The midfielder was a crucial part of Italy's Euro 2020-winning side last summer but won't be at this year's World Cup following the Azzurri's shock home defeat to North Macedonia.
His penalty misses in the group draws with Switzerland came back to haunt him as the Italians were forced to take the play-off route - one that ended in defeat despite them outshooting North Macedonia 32 to four.
Patrik Schick
The second top scorer in the 2020 Euros and winner of the Goal of the Tournament, Schick is Czech Republic's main man having scored 17 times in 33 matches for his country.
This season the Bayer Leverkusen striker is in fine form having found the net 20 times in as many matches, including four in one match in a 7-1 demolition of Bundesliga strugglers Greuther Furth.
With his collective transfer fees totalling around £65million, Schick's form has garnered interest from the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Newcastle United.
However, he won't be in the shop window this winter after the Czech Republic suffered an extra-time defeat to Sweden in their play-off match.
Marco Verratti
Verratti has experienced a brutal couple of weeks. Club side Paris Saint-Germain were knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16 by Real Madrid, with a Karim Benzema hat-trick doing the damage after the Ligue 1 side looked in control of the tie.
Fast forward almost three weeks and Verratti's national team have been dumped out of World Cup qualification too - the second tournament in succession that they have failed to qualify for.
Still, at 29, the central midfielder might have one more World Cup (failure) in him, which is more than can be said for Giorgio Chiellini, 37, and Leonardo Bonucci, 34.
Martin Odegaard
A prodigy as a youngster, Odegaard was snapped up by Real Madrid in 2015, but it is only after joining Arsenal that the attacking midfielder has been able to reproduce that form on a consistent level.
A Norway debutant at 15, he is now 23 and is approaching his 40th cap for his country who he has also captained.
However, he won't be able to add to that figure in Qatar, with Norway having been eliminated after finishing third in their group behind Netherlands and Turkey.
Erling Haaland
However, Odegaard won't be the most missed Norway international in Qatar.
Alongside Kylian Mbappe, Haaland is the most exciting talent in world football and the chances are he will be at a new club when the 2022 World Cup kicks off.
PSG, Real Madrid and Manchester City are all lining up moves for the Leeds-born 21-year-old who has 13 goals in 16 international matches (including two hat-tricks) and 129 club goals in 159 matches for Molde, RB Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund.
Sebastien Haller
Haller's name might not have appeared on a list like this a year ago, but his form since joining Dutch side Ajax has been pretty remarkable, particularly in the Champions League.
In 2021/22, the French-born targetman became the first player to score four goals on his debut in the competition since Marco van Basten achieved the feat in 1992, when netting a quadruple against Sporting in a 5-1 win.
Haller's form in the competition didn't drop off as he became the first player to score in seven consecutive games, while in Ajax's final group game, he became the fastest player to 10 goals.
The striker changed his nationality from France to the Ivory Coast in 2020 and has gone on to score four goals in 12 matches at international level.
However, the Elephants' failure to finish top of a four-country group meant that they failed to qualify for Qatar. A 0-0 draw with Mozambique proved their downfall, with Ivory coast finishing two points behind group winners Cameroon.
Hakan Calhanoglu
The Inter Milan man has played 67 times for Turkey since his debut in 2013, scoring 14 times and providing 13 assists.
However, he will be following the World Cup from the sofa after Turkey suffered a heartbreaking 3-1 loss to Portugal in their semi final play-off match.
With his side trailing 2-1, Turkey's Burak Yilmaz fired a penalty over the bar and his misery was complete when Portugal scored a third at the death.
Other notable Turkey names to miss out on the tournament are Leicester City's Caglar Soyuncu and Everton's Cenk Tosun.
David Alaba
Austria's captain is no stranger to huge matches having played for German giants Bayern Munich and currently Real Madrid. However, his country came up short in their quest for World Cup qualification after a 2-1 loss to Wales in their play-off semi-final, Real team-mate Gareth Bale doing the damage.
The versatile Alaba, who made his debut for Austria in 2009, is now 29 and will be hoping to have at least one more crack at World Cup qualification.
However, the Austrians' failure to qualify for a sixth consecutive World Cup means 32-year-old Marco Arnautovic may have missed his chance to grace the big stage.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Not a shock given that Gabon have never qualified for a World Cup tournament, but there is no doubting that Aubameyang will be sorely missed, especially given his current form.
Following a controversial move from Arsenal to Barcelona, the striker has registered seven goals in as many league matches for the Catalan outfit.
It has taken him past 300 career club goals, with a further 30 coming from his national side.
Mohamed Salah
Salah will be glad to see the back of Senegal after a heartbreaking 2022.
The Liverpool striker was on the losing side as Senegal lifted the Africa Cup of Nations on penalties and then saw the Lions of Teranga deny them a place in the World Cup thanks to another shoot-out win in the final African qualifying round.
It denied Salah a chance to take his prolific club form onto the world stage. Nevertheless, Liverpool fans will at least be able to see the other two members of their feared front three in action in Qatar, with Roberto Firmino's Brazil joining Senegal in the Middle East.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Sweden's bid for a 13th World Cup finals appearance was ended by Poland at the final play-off stage and surely ended the chances of Zlatan appearing at another World Cup.
There are signs that age is finally catching up with the AC Milan forward, however, with four separate injury-related spells on the sidelines in La Liga this season and only seven goals scored.
However, this Zlatan we are talking about so don't be surprised to see the Swede turning out for his county at United 2026 at the age of 44!
