Being the biggest football fiesta in the universe, it is the dream of every player to feature at the FIFA World Cup. The tournament’s quadrennial nature and room for 32 nations only means that not all superstars make the cut.
Eric Cantona, George Weah, Ryan Giggs, George Best and Alfredo Di Stefano are amongst the names to have infamously never played in a World Cup, and 2022 will add more names to an inglorious list, a list brought to you by jeux casino en ligne.
Jan Oblak (Slovenia)
To many, Oblak is the best goalkeeper in the world, although most of the widespread acclaim toward him stems from his performances at club level for Atlético Madrid. Will he ever play at a World Cup? Slovenia last reached one in 2010 and missed out this time after finishing fourth in its qualifying group. At age 29, Oblak likely has a couple more chances left.
Erling Haaland (Norway)
Haaland’s goal scoring exploits have made him one of most sought-after players in Europe, with a scramble for his signature set to burst into life this summer. However, despite scoring five goals in qualifying, Norway were edged out in UEFA Group G, as Turkey claimed second place behind the Netherlands.
Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
Egypt was sunk by Senegal on penalties in the AFCON 2022 final, and it happened again just a month later as the two matched up in the CAF World Cup qualifying final round, with a home & away two-legged matchup to decide a spot in the World Cup. After a pair of 1-0 results for each home side that left the two nations level on aggregate, it went to another penalty shootout. Liverpool star Salah missed a penalty in the shootout, which was blighted by Senegal fans pummeling the Egypt players with laser pointers.
Zlatan Ibrahimovich (Sweden)
The legendary striker has considered international retirement for a while, but made himself available for selection as Sweden pushed through the UEFA qualification playoffs looking for a spot. The Blagult fell to Poland in the playoff Path B final 2-0, leaving Zlatan at home for the finals in Qatar. Ibrahimovic didn’t start the final against Poland, only brought on for the final 10 minutes with the team already down two goals.
Pierre-EmerickAubameyang (Gabon)
Aubameyang hit the headlines in 2022 after joining Barcelona on a free transfer following his high-profile exit from Arsenal. However, despite netting two crucial goals in qualifying, Gabon were squeezed out by Mo Salah’s Egypt in the race for a CAF play-off spot.
Luiz Diaz (Colombia)
The 25-year-old Liverpool winger has taken over from James Rodriguez as the standout for Colombia and was tied with Lionel Messi as the top scorer in the Copa America last year. He couldn’t inspire his team to qualify for the World Cup, though, with Colombia finishing in sixth place in South American qualifying. His club career remains on the rise after moving to Liverpool from Porto in January and making a seamless transition into the star-studded attack of the Premier League team. However, appearing on this Stellarspins online casino list means he won’t be in 2022 World Cup.
Victor Osimhen (Nigeria)
Nigeria fell to Ghana in the final round of African World Cup qualifying thanks to away goals, meaning the Super Eagles miss out on a spot at the World Cup for the first time in the last four events and just the second time in the last eight. 23-year-old striker Victor Osimhen, who plays for Napoli, did not score in either the home or away leg, unable to push his team to the finals in Qatar.
