WITH the World Cup just TWO months away, the line-up for the biggest tournament in football is complete.
But plenty of big names have already seen their World Cup dream ended, including Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah, whose Egypt team fell in qualifying.
And here SunSport have formulated a best XI of players who will be watching this year’s World Cup finals from home… or the beach.
Leading the line for the best XI not at the World Cup are Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland and AC Milan man Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
He might be one of the most prolific strikers on the planet, but Haaland’s Norway could only finish third in their qualifying group.
Captained by Arsenal man Martin Odegaard – another to make the XI of stars not going to the World Cup – Norway finished behind both the Netherlands and Turkey.
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And Ibrahimovic’s Sweden side also missed out on qualification – meaning Man Utd man Victor Lindelof is another absentee from the tournament.
In an attack-heavy team, Salah joins Haaland and Ibrahimovic in the front quartet of our team.
The Egypt forward blazed a penalty over the bar in their shootout defeat to Senegal, meaning last season’s top scorer in the Premier League will NOT be in Qatar.
And propping up the front four is Gabon captain and Chelsea forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
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His side failed to get out of their qualification group as they finished below Salah’s Egypt.
Elsewhere, in a stunning turn of events, Euro 2020 winners Italy were beaten in a play-off against minnows North Macedonia.
The embarrassing defeat sees Leonardo Spinazzola, Giorgio Chiellini and Marco Verratti all included in the best XI of players not going to the World Cup.
And Austrian skipper David Alaba will join them in having a month off after his country lost 2-1 to Wales in their play-off semi-final back in March.
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Finally, Atletico Madrid keeper Jan Oblak completes the team after Slovenia finished nowhere near contention in their qualifying group.
The World Cup gets underway on November 20, with the final scheduled for December 18 – an early Christmas present for football fans.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
