International Soccer Stars who will not go to the Qatar 2022 World Cup

The six World Cup qualifiers have come to an end. In the absence of the last classified through the playoffs, we already have 29 of the 32 teams that will be present at Qatar 2022. They were years of intense games, full of emotion on the one hand and sadness on the other. Not everyone manages to qualify for a World Cup and, as usual, several soccer stars remain on the road without their respective ticket. Here we present you 10 international soccer players who were at the gates of glory.

Mohammed Salah

Without a doubt, a terrible year for Pharaoh and Egypt. Not only did they lose the African Cup at the beginning of the year against Senegal, but this same rival also left them without the World Cup and by penalties. The African "10", considered one of the best attackers in European soccer and twice nominated for the Ballon d'Or, will miss Qatar 2022.

Luis Diaz

One of the Latin Americans who dazzles in the Premier League and who has a great present. Colombia had a streak of 7 games without scoring a goal and that ended up fatal on the final stretch of the qualifiers. And it is that during that period, Luis Díaz was the highlight of the team. Like the Liverpool striker, neither James Rodríguez nor David Ospina will be at the World Cup.

Riyadh Mahrez

The Manchester City player was in charge of taking Algeria to the decisive match to get a place, but by fate they lost the opportunity to go to Qatar 2022 at the last breath. A few seconds before celebrating the classification, a timely play ended in a goal for Cameroon and thus they were left empty-handed.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Qatar would have been the ideal setting for the AC Milan striker to retire in style with his national team, and even from professional soccer. Sweden came close to qualifying directly, but ended up playing the playoff where they eliminated the Czech Republic and later fell to Poland. However, and as the player himself would say, it was the World Cup that will miss Ibrahimovic.

Alexis Sanchez

Unfortunately, the golden generation of Chile was left for the second tie in a row without participating in a soccer world cup. Chile needed a series of results to get a ticket to the playoffs on the last day, but ended up losing to Uruguay. Among its stars stands out the Inter Milan attacker, who will be 37 years old for the 2026 World Cup.

David Alaba

For a team to go to a World Cup, it needs the contribution of all its players, and not just one. Although he has stood out in recent years as an elite defender, the Real Madrid player said goodbye to his World Cup dream early, as Austria finished fourth in a group dominated by Denmark and Scotland.

Victor Osimen

One of the young Africans of the moment. The Napoli striker has drawn the attention of other top clubs in Europe thanks to his scoring instincts and agility with the ball. However, they could do little in the decisive match against Ghana to qualify for Qatar 2022, where they were eliminated on the away goal. Unfortunately, Nigeria will miss the World Cup after playing 6 of the last 7 editions.

Erling Haland

The present and future of world soccer. The attacker does not stop surprising us and scoring goals every time he enters the pitch. However, it is worth mentioning that the Norwegian may be one of those particular cases of soccer players who will not play a World Cup due to the lack of competitiveness of their team. For these qualifiers, Norway finished third in their group behind the Netherlands and Turkey.

Franck Kessie

Ivory Coast continues to export quality and competitive players who make a living in European soccer. Precisely one of those is the current AC Milan midfielder, who stands out for his physicality and powerful mid-range punch. The detail with Kessié and the rest of his teammates was that they shared a group with Cameroon and they were the team that passed the round by finishing first.

Ciro Immobile

Hard to believe but, for the second tie in a row, Italy is left out of the protagonists of a World Cup. After finishing second in the group, the biggest surprise came in the playoffs when North Macedonia beat them on the last minute of the match. Among the Italian stars who will not be in Qatar 2022 is the Lazio attacker, current top scorer in Serie A and top scorer in the 2014, 2018 and 2020 seasons.