7 stars of the 2022 World Cup who are absent from the 2026 tournament | OneFootball

The 23rd edition of the World Cup is right around the corner, so we are taking a look at some of the stars of 2022 who won’t be playing this year.

Four years have come and gone since the last event in Qatar and a lot can happen in the footballing world in that time.

Here are seven of the names who either retired from international football or had such a drop-off in form that they failed to get picked.

Antoine Griezmann

France had plenty of big names in the squad that made it to the 2022 final but Griezmann was the glue holding them all together.

The Atletico Madrid veteran was a revelation in a deeper role for his country and his absence this summer has some wondering how a French team of superstars will get on.

Angel Di Maria

Di Maria was often the man for the big occasion, for both club and country, and he turned up in Qatar.

He only scored one goal in the whole tournament but it was in the final and came after he won a penalty for Lionel Messi to put Argentina 1-0 up. France may have fought back but Argentina secured World Cup glory via penalties.

This time, another World Cup success will have to come without Di Maria who has been at every World Cup since 2010.

He is still playing football, but with Rosario Central in his hometown at the age of 38. Argentina will miss him.

Luis Suarez

Suarez is the author of one of the most famous moments in World Cup history as he sank his teeth into the shoulder of Giorgio Chiellini but the biting striker will not be at this summer’s tournament.

The now 39-year-old is still playing professional football with Inter Miami but by all accounts, his knees are long shot and he requires injections just to get through matches.

Still, Uruguay will play in Miami so maybe he will be seen in the crowd.

Hakim Ziyech

Morocco were the surprise package of the 2022 tournament and went on to reach the semi-finals, eventually losing the third-place playoff.

At the time, Ziyech was at Chelsea. But his career has fallen off dramatically since then.

He joined Galatasaray a year later but made just 23 league appearances in two seasons before moving to Qatari side Al-Duhail.

In October, he moved to Wydad AC in his home country and did not make the World Cup squad.

Harry Maguire

Maguire went into the 2022 finals under heavy scrutiny, but performed admirably as England kept three clean sheets from five games.

International football seemed like the defender’s happy place, but he was injured for the European Championship two years later and hasn’t been picked by Thomas Tuchel this time.

Richarlison

Richarlison scored the Goal of the Tournament four years ago, a wonderful acrobatic volley in Brazil’s group stage win over Serbia.

Despite his respectable form at Spurs in 2025-26, he’s missed out on this year’s squad. Will Brazil rue leaving someone who knows how to score at home?

Olivier Giroud

Giroud famously didn’t score at Russia 2018, but netted four times in Qatar – including the winner against England in the quarter-final.

Didier Deschamps has a plethora of attacking riches at his disposal, but France haven’t functioned as well as they did when Giroud led the line. Something to ponder.