Best XI Footballers not going to the World Cup
Best XI Footballers who will not be going to the 2026 World Cup? Best XI Footballers not going to the World Cup! World Cup 2026 should be a cracker, however, there will be a few top players we wont get to see perform on the world stage this year.
However we have chosen to compile a best XI footballers not going to the World Cup list. Watch & Bet Football Live =>
Just wait until you see the Best XI Footballers who will not be going to the 2026 World Cup.
Best XI Footballers not going to the World Cup?
The beautiful game’s harshest truth is that talent alone doesn’t buy you a ticket to its biggest party.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, set to be the largest ever with an expanded 48-team format across the United States, Canada and Mexico, is just weeks away.
Yet despite more seats at the table than ever before, some of the world’s most brilliant footballers will be watching from home.
While the likes of Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard will take center stage after firing Norway to their first World Cup in 28 years, the tournament will be notably dimmer without a constellation of stars from powerhouse nations that stumbled in qualification.
Italy’s shocking penalty shootout loss to Bosnia marked their third consecutive World Cup absence, while Poland, Nigeria and Hungary also saw their dreams shattered in dramatic playoff finals.
The result is a shadow squad of superstars whose combined market value exceeds €650 million a lineup of staggering quality that, on paper, could rival any nation in North America.
Here is the Best XI (and then some) of footballers who will be cruel spectators this summer.
Best players not going to World Cup
Best players not going to the World Cup: Here are the best players from around the world that will miss out on the 2026 World Cup in USA, Canada and Mexico.
Best XI Footballers not going to the World Cup 2026: Goalkeeper
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy) — For a goalkeeper of his stature, the numbers are almost incomprehensible.
At just 27, Donnarumma has already won a European Championship, claimed a Champions League trophy with Paris Saint-Germain, and is now plying his trade at Manchester City.
Yet the man widely regarded as one of the world’s finest shot-stoppers has never played a single minute at a World Cup.
Italy’s playoff final defeat to Bosnia in Zenica a crushing 1-1 draw followed by a 1-4 penalty shootout loss extended a national crisis that began in 2014 and shows no signs of ending.
Jan Oblak (Slovenia) — If there is any goalkeeper who can match Donnarumma’s pedigree, it’s Atletico Madrid’s formidable Slovenian.
A man who has made 381 La Liga appearances and consistently redefined the art of goalkeeping in the modern era, Oblak will be absent after Slovenia finished behind Switzerland and Kosovo in their group.
For a nation that has never quite broken through on the world stage, Oblak’s absence is both a personal tragedy and a national what‑if.
Best XI Footballers not going to the World Cup: Defenders
Alessandro Bastoni (Italy) — The Inter Milan colossus endured a night to forget in Zenica. With Italy leading, Bastoni was sent off following a controversial challenge, an ejection that shifted the momentum entirely before Bosnia equalized and ultimately prevailed on penalties.
Now, the center‑back who has been linked with a major move to Barcelona will have to wait for his World Cup debut alongside the rest of his devastated nation.
Nikola Milenkovic (Serbia) — The Nottingham Forest defender has been one of the Premier League’s most consistent and impressive center‑backs across the past two seasons, yet his international fortunes couldn’t have been bleaker.
Serbia finished third in their qualifying group behind England and Albania, a stunning collapse that means Milenkovic alongside Dušan Vlahović
\-*will be missing from the tournament entirely.
Illya Zabarnyi (Ukraine) — The young Ukrainian defender, signed by PSG from Bournemouth for €63 million, already has two European Championships under his belt.
But Ukraine’s semifinal playoff loss to Sweden (1-3) in March ended their World Cup hopes, leaving Zabarnyi and a deeply talented generation to once again watch from the sidelines.
Best XI Footballers who will not be going to the 2026 World Cup: midfielders
Dominik Szoboszlai (Hungary) — When the final qualification matches concluded, the most expensive footballer whose nation failed to qualify was Liverpool’s Hungarian captain, valued at a staggering £87 million.
Hungary needed just a single draw at home against the Republic of Ireland to clinch a playoff berth and couldn’t get it.
For Szoboszlai, who has had an excellent campaign with Liverpool despite the club’s struggles, the heartbreak is compounded by the knowledge that his nation’s wait for a World Cup appearance stretches all the way back to 1986.
Sandro Tonali (Italy) — The Newcastle United sensation has been one of the world’s standout midfielders this season, earning links with Arsenal and Manchester United.
But even his brilliance couldn’t rescue Italy from their playoff nightmare. Tonali scored and assisted against Northern Ireland in the group stage, only to watch helplessly as the Azzurri crumbled on penalties in Bosnia.
Nicolo Barella (Italy) — Alongside Tonali, the Inter maestro completes an Italian midfield that on paper rivals any in world football.
Barella’s absence is particularly cruel: at 29, with a European Championship medal already in his collection, he represents the heart of a generation that somehow cannot break through to the game’s ultimate stage.
Italy haven’t appeared at a World Cup since 2014, and Barella has become the face of that inexplicable drought.
Best XI Footballers not going to the World Cup: Attackers
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia) — The PSG winger, affectionately known as “Kvaradona,” is arguably the most electrifying attacking talent in Europe not named Mbappé or Vinícius.
Yet Georgia found themselves drawn into the “group of death” alongside Spain, Turkey and Bulgaria, winning just one match from six and losing the other five.
The 25-year-old superstar led his nation to a historic Euro 2024 appearance, but that remarkable achievement now feels like a distant consolation for a player who deserves the world’s biggest stage.
Robert Lewandowski (Poland) — The scene in Stockholm will haunt Polish football for years. Poland conceded a winning goal in the 88th minute to Sweden’s Viktor Gyökeres, losing their chance at World Cup qualification in the most agonizing fashion imaginable.
At 37 years old, the Barcelona striker, Poland’s all‑time leading scorer with 89 international goals, and 715 across his legendary career was in tears at the final whistle, fully aware that this was almost certainly his last opportunity.
Victor Osimhen (Nigeria) — The Super Eagles’ failure is perhaps the most galling of all. Nigeria, a nation that has made six of the seven World Cups between 1994 and 2018, missed consecutive tournaments for the first time since 1990.
After falling short of automatic qualification, Osimhen and his teammates lost a dramatic playoff final to the Democratic Republic of Congo on penalties a match that descended into chaos, with the former Napoli striker limping off injured at half-time. Watch & Bet Football Live =>
Players who will miss World Cup 2026 due to injury
Just days before the 2026 World Cup kicks off across the United States, Canada and Mexico, the tournament has already suffered a devastating blow.
The list of injury-related withdrawals has grown so alarmingly that it could now field a world-class starting eleven of its own featuring some of the planet’s most electrifying talent, all forced to watch helplessly from the sidelines.
For every heartwarming story of a player rushing back to fitness in time, there is a heartbreaking counterpoint: a season-ending rupture, a shattered dream, a dream dashed by a cruel twist on the pitch.
No nation has been hit harder than Brazil, who will be without three key stars in their quest for a first World Cup title since 2002.
Meanwhile, injuries have ravaged the hopes of Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain and even the host nations. Here is the injury XI that the 2026 World Cup will be missing.
Players who will miss the 2026 World Cup due to Injury
Eder Militao (Brazil): When Real Madrid defeated Alavés at the Bernabeu in late March, the victory came at a devastating cost.
Militão ruptured the biceps femoris in his left thigh a hamstring injury so severe that he will undergo surgery in Finland with the world’s top specialist for such trauma.
The expected recovery time is at least five months, meaning Brazil’s defensive rock will miss the entire tournament.
It is just the latest chapter in a cruel injury saga: since the end of the 2022 World Cup, Militão has endured nine separate injuries and three surgeries, totaling more than 600 days on the sidelines.
Ben White (England): The Arsenal defender’s World Cup dream ended before it could begin. White has been ruled out after suffering a severe knee ligament injury, leaving England’s defensive depth thinner than Thomas Tuchel would have liked.
Hugo Ekitike (France): The Liverpool striker was enjoying the finest season of his young career: 17 goals and six assists across all competitions, including a standout performance in a friendly win over Brazil. Then came the Champions League quarter‑final against Paris Saint‑Germain.
A misstep. A collapsed ankle. A ruptured Achilles tendon. The injury will require more than six months of recovery, ruling Ekitike out of the World Cup entirely and potentially jeopardizing the start of next season.
Rodrygo (Brazil): Brazil’s injury nightmare begins up front. Real Madrid confirmed in early March that Rodrygo suffered a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament and lateral meniscus in his right knee during a 1‑0 defeat to Getafe.
The 25‑year‑old had already been limited by injuries and suspension, making just his first appearance since February 1 in that fateful match.
Now, after five appearances at the 2022 World Cup, he will not play a part in Carlo Ancelotti’s 2026 campaign. For a Brazil team already lacking attacking depth, losing one of their most dynamic forwards is a catastrophe.
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