The spectacle of a winter tournament has generated huge attention, with the demands it places on European domestic seasons causing controversy, after FIFA stuck to their guns of bringing the competition to the Middle East.

However, despite the focus on the nations and stars on display in Qatar, there will be some huge names missing out, after failing to secure a place with their national sides.

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.


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.

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