Several star players will not be seen in the soon-to-be-started value tournament.
Phil Foden (left) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (centre) were left out of England’s World Cup squad. PDO
The World Cup starts on Thursday. The tournament, which will be played in the USA, Canada and Mexico, will feature plenty of stars, including Lionel Messi (Argentina), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Kylian Mbappé (France), Erling Haaland (Norway) and Lamine Yamal (Spain).
There is also plenty of stardom among the athletes who will not be seen in the upcoming games.
One of the big football countries is missing from the crowd. Four-time world champions Italy received negative attention in the spring when they lost a decisive qualifying match to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It knew that the Italian stars under the leadership of Gianluigi Donnarumma would not be seen in the upcoming matches.
Donnarumma is by no means the only big name that is not seen on the WC fields.
Iltalehti gathered 13 star players who were left out of the games.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Real Madrid Fullback Alexander-Arnold was one of England’s mainstays in the European Championships two years ago. Alexander-Arnold, 27, moved from Liverpool to Real Madrid last summer, where he proved to be a big disappointment. The weak grips led to the fact that the head coach of England, Thomas Tuchel, did not select him for the games.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (right) was left out of England’s World Cup squad. PDO
Xavi Simons
Simons, 23, a Dutch and Premier League club Tottenham Spurs player, was injured in a match against Wolves in the spring. Simons broke his knee so badly that he had to take a long sick leave. This meant that Simons would not be seen in the upcoming World Cup tournament.
Lennart Karl
The German national team received dramatic news during the Games when its super promising Karl, 18, was injured in training. Karl’s injury turned out to be so serious that he misses the entire World Cup tournament. Germany named the RB Leipzig midfielder as his replacement Assan Ouédraogon.
João Pedro
Pedro, 24, who switched from Brighton to Chelsea last summer, made quite a good impression in his first season in the ranks of the blue shirts. Pedro scored 15 goals in the Premier League and made eight assists that led to goals. However, the displays were not enough for a place in the World Cup, when the former pilot of Real Madrid, the current head coach of Brazil, Carlo Ancelotti, chose the Brentford striker instead of Pedro Igor Thiago and including the country’s long-time star player Neymar for the tournament.
Cole Palmer
Many football fans were surprised when Thomas Tuchel released England’s World Cup squad for the summer, which did not include Cole Palmer’s name. Palmer was sidelined for several months during the winter due to a groin injury, and he was unable to make his usual flight.
Harry Maguire
Tuchel and the England management team made quite tough decisions during the World Cup when they left not only Alexander-Arnold and Palmer but also Harry Maguire out of the team. Maguire, 33, has been a long-time stalwart of England’s national team. Maguire described the World Cup exit as a “total shock”.
Phil Foden
Let’s add one more Briton to the list. If Palmer’s absence may have come as a surprise to some football followers, the same could be said of Phil Foden’s absence. Foden, 26, didn’t hit the ground running under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City last season. A poor season led to Tuchel leaving him on the beach.
Phil Foden will not be seen on the World Cup green. PDO
Eduardo Camavinga
France will go to the starting World Cup tournament as one of the big favorites. There is so much quality in France’s ranks that it could leave some tough names out of the team. One of these is Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, who has been a regular face of the French national team in recent years. Camavinga struggled with injuries last season and his responsibility remained limited at Real. Final result: not relevant to the tournament.
Marc-André ter Stegen
After Manuel Neuer announced that he was retiring from the national team, all eyes in Germany turned to FC Barcelona’s long-time number one goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen. The 34-year-old German, however, drifted into a tight gap in Barcelona when the Catalan giant got Joan Garcia between the posts. Ter Stegen was eventually sent on loan to Girona, where he only managed to play two matches before getting injured. Ter Stegen was not selected for Germany’s World Cup squad.
Rodrygo
Real Madrid’s winger Rodrygo had time to carry quite a significant responsibility in the Brazilian national team for a long time. Rodrygo broke his knee so badly in March that he will be sidelined from the playing field for the rest of next season.
Hugo Ekitike
Last summer’s signing from Liverpool, Ekitiké, 23, immediately shone at his new club, leaving even Swedish striker Alexander Isak at his feet in the pecking order. In April, Ekitiké experienced a bad setback when he tore his Achilles tendon. As long as it is, you could say about Ekitiké’s World Cup tournament journey.
Hugo Ekitiké had a hard time during the World Cup tournament. EPA / AOP
Kaoru Mitoma
Brighton and Japan star winger Mitoma suffered a nasty turn in May when he injured his groin against Wolves. After more detailed investigations, it became clear that Mitoma will not have time to recover to playing condition during the World Cup tournament.
Dani Carvajal
Spain captain Luis de la Fuente made a tough decision during the Games when he left the national team’s long-time full-back Dani Carvajal out of the squad. According to De la Fuente, he was “concerned” about the playing condition of the 34-year-old Carvajal.
Other notable absentees: Serge Gnabry (Germany), Dean Huijsen (Spain) and Estevao (Brazil).