Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy): The Man City stopper is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. However, the 27-year-old was one of those involved as Italy missed out on a third consecutive World Cup, losing to Bosnia after a penalty shoot-out in the play-offs.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (England): One of Thomas Tuchel’s more controversial calls, leaving out the Real Madrid star in favour of less creative but more defensively reliable options like Reece James and Djed Spence.
Harry Maguire (England): Maguire has his critics, but with 66 England caps and over 200 Man United appearances under his belt, the defender has the type of experience at the highest level that not many countries competing in the tournament would have the luxury of ignoring.
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Éder Militão (Brazil): A highly rated centre back who has made nearly 200 Real Madrid appearances since joining from Porto for €50 million in 2019, the 28-year-old’s career has been blighted by injuries since sustaining an ACL setback in 2023.
Adrien Truffert (France): It is an indication of France’s strength in depth at full-back that they can afford to leave out Truffert, widely regarded as among the Premier League’s most impressive left-backs since joining Bournemouth from Rennes last summer, as well as Benjamin Pavard, a key player when they won the World Cup in 2018, in addition to being part of the squad that reached the final in 2022.
Sandro Tonali (Italy): Another important player for Italy who, nevertheless, could not inspire them to qualify for the tournament. The 26-year-old is still widely regarded as one of the Premier League’s best midfielders. He has been a virtual ever-present for Newcastle in the last two seasons, and has been linked with moves to Man United and Arsenal of late.
Dominik Szoboszlai (Hungary): Arguably the standout performer amid an indifferent season for Liverpool, and the 38th best footballer in the world according to The Guardian’s most recent list, Szoboszlai, regardless, won’t be at this summer’s World Cup after Hungary were memorably knocked out by a Troy Parrott-inspired Ireland.
Phil Foden (England): The Premier League Player of the Season just two years ago, Foden has failed to maintain that form since. However, it’s still a sign of England’s remarkable strength in depth that he was left out of the squad. At 26, the Man City star should be approaching the peak of his career, and even amid a disappointing campaign, he still managed seven goals and four assists from 32 top-flight appearances this season.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia): There is a genuine case to be made for Kvaratskhelia being the best player in the world right now. The 25-year-old has been a key part of a PSG team that have lit up the Champions League for the past two seasons. Unfortunately, Georgia are nowhere near as strong — they lost five out of six games in a tough qualifying group that also included Spain, Turkey and Bulgaria.
Robert Lewandowski (Poland): Unquestionably, one of the world’s best strikers in the last 20 years and would have surely won the Ballon D’Or were it not for the fact that his career coincided with two generational talents in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (the Polish superstar was runner-up to the former in 2021), even at 37, Lewandowski is a top-class player who has been an important squad member for Barcelona in recent seasons, scoring 83 goals in 134 La Liga appearances. He was part of a Polish side that narrowly failed to qualify, losing 3-2 in the play-off final against Sweden.
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Hugo Ekitike (France): Another one of Liverpool’s most impressive performers this season – the 23-year-old scored 19 goals in all competitions – an Achilles tendon injury suffered by the forward in April against PSG has ruled him out of the tournament. But with the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise, and Ousmane Dembélé to choose from in attack, even a fit Ekitike was not even a guaranteed starter for Les Bleus.
Subs: Jan Oblak (Slovakia), Dani Carvajal (Spain), Lewis Hall (England), Dean Huijsen (Spain), Eduardo Camavinga (France), Mateus Fernandes (Portugal), Cole Palmer (England), Ademola Lookman (Nigeria), Fermin Lopez (Spain), Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon), Serge Gnabry (Germany), Estevao (Brazil), Rodrygo (Brazil), João Pedro (Brazil), Victor Osimhen (Nigeria).
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Absent XI: The best players who won't feature at the 2026 World Cup
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy): The Man City stopper is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. However, the 27-year-old was one of those involved as Italy missed out on a third consecutive World Cup, losing to Bosnia after a penalty shoot-out in the play-offs.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (England): One of Thomas Tuchel’s more controversial calls, leaving out the Real Madrid star in favour of less creative but more defensively reliable options like Reece James and Djed Spence.
Harry Maguire (England): Maguire has his critics, but with 66 England caps and over 200 Man United appearances under his belt, the defender has the type of experience at the highest level that not many countries competing in the tournament would have the luxury of ignoring.
Éder Militão (Brazil): A highly rated centre back who has made nearly 200 Real Madrid appearances since joining from Porto for €50 million in 2019, the 28-year-old’s career has been blighted by injuries since sustaining an ACL setback in 2023.
Adrien Truffert (France): It is an indication of France’s strength in depth at full-back that they can afford to leave out Truffert, widely regarded as among the Premier League’s most impressive left-backs since joining Bournemouth from Rennes last summer, as well as Benjamin Pavard, a key player when they won the World Cup in 2018, in addition to being part of the squad that reached the final in 2022.
Sandro Tonali (Italy): Another important player for Italy who, nevertheless, could not inspire them to qualify for the tournament. The 26-year-old is still widely regarded as one of the Premier League’s best midfielders. He has been a virtual ever-present for Newcastle in the last two seasons, and has been linked with moves to Man United and Arsenal of late.
Dominik Szoboszlai (Hungary): Arguably the standout performer amid an indifferent season for Liverpool, and the 38th best footballer in the world according to The Guardian’s most recent list, Szoboszlai, regardless, won’t be at this summer’s World Cup after Hungary were memorably knocked out by a Troy Parrott-inspired Ireland.
Phil Foden (England): The Premier League Player of the Season just two years ago, Foden has failed to maintain that form since. However, it’s still a sign of England’s remarkable strength in depth that he was left out of the squad. At 26, the Man City star should be approaching the peak of his career, and even amid a disappointing campaign, he still managed seven goals and four assists from 32 top-flight appearances this season.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia): There is a genuine case to be made for Kvaratskhelia being the best player in the world right now. The 25-year-old has been a key part of a PSG team that have lit up the Champions League for the past two seasons. Unfortunately, Georgia are nowhere near as strong — they lost five out of six games in a tough qualifying group that also included Spain, Turkey and Bulgaria.
Robert Lewandowski (Poland): Unquestionably, one of the world’s best strikers in the last 20 years and would have surely won the Ballon D’Or were it not for the fact that his career coincided with two generational talents in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo (the Polish superstar was runner-up to the former in 2021), even at 37, Lewandowski is a top-class player who has been an important squad member for Barcelona in recent seasons, scoring 83 goals in 134 La Liga appearances. He was part of a Polish side that narrowly failed to qualify, losing 3-2 in the play-off final against Sweden.
Hugo Ekitike (France): Another one of Liverpool’s most impressive performers this season – the 23-year-old scored 19 goals in all competitions – an Achilles tendon injury suffered by the forward in April against PSG has ruled him out of the tournament. But with the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Michael Olise, and Ousmane Dembélé to choose from in attack, even a fit Ekitike was not even a guaranteed starter for Les Bleus.
Subs: Jan Oblak (Slovakia), Dani Carvajal (Spain), Lewis Hall (England), Dean Huijsen (Spain), Eduardo Camavinga (France), Mateus Fernandes (Portugal), Cole Palmer (England), Ademola Lookman (Nigeria), Fermin Lopez (Spain), Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon), Serge Gnabry (Germany), Estevao (Brazil), Rodrygo (Brazil), João Pedro (Brazil), Victor Osimhen (Nigeria).
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Absent XI Harry Maguire Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Missing Out Soccer trent alexander-arnold World Cup 2026