A superb XI of players that will miss the 2026 World Cup: Szoboszlai, Mbeumo… | OneFootball

The likes of Kylian Mbappe, Lamine Yamal, Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have booked their places at the 2026 World Cup, but some huge stars will be missing out.

There are still more qualifiers set to take place next year, with the likes of Italy, Denmark, Sweden and Wales gearing up for the play-offs. But we do know that some big footballing nations, home to major superstars, definitely won’t be there.

We’ve compiled a full XI of players who won’t be at next summer’s World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

GK: Jan Oblak

Atletico Madrid’s No.1 might not be included in ‘best goalkeeper in the world’ conversation as routinely he was a few years back, but he remains a world-class shot-stopper on his day.

Still, as good as he’s been, it would’ve required a superhuman effort for Oblak to compensate for an otherwise ordinary squad. They finished a distant third behind Switzerland and Kosovo in their qualifying group.

At the age of 32, Slovenia’s experienced captain might have one more qualification cycle left, but it looks increasingly likely he’ll one day hang up his gloves without ever having made it to a World Cup.

RB: Jon Aramburu

The expanded World Cup format has dulled CONMEBOL’s brilliant round-robin qualification tournament. Gone are the days when powerhouses like Brazil and Argentina might look in genuine danger of not making it.

Six of the 10 South American member nations have made it, while seventh-place Bolivia have a play-off to come.

That leaves Venezuela, Peru and Chile out of the picture, all of them lacking in genuine star quality.

Venezuela’s Aramburu is our sole South American representative in this XI.

The 23-year-old has looked an inspired pick-up by Real Sociedad, quietly establishing himself as one of the best right-backs in La Liga. He’s been linked with the likes of Manchester United, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him make a big move in the years ahead.

CB: Edmond Tapsoba

Another one that’s not a household name, hailing from one of the relative outsiders of the international game, Burkina Faso’s Tapsoba is worthy of recognition.

He was a key player as Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen won the domestic double, unbeaten, a couple of years back. While most of his old team-mates have jumped ship, he remains at the BayArena and is evidently a key pillar of the Bundesliga club’s project going forward.

Tapsoba is similarly important on the international stage. Burkina Faso have conceded just one goal from the last four qualifiers he started, taking 10 points from 12, and were ultimately unfortunate to finish runners-up to a rampant Egypt in CAF qualifying.

CB: Nikola Milenkovic

Nottingham Forest’s man-mountain won’t be even be contesting the play-offs after Serbia’s desperately disappointing qualification campaign.

Finishing behind England was always to be expected, but few would have predicted them ending up third behind Albania.

And Milenkovic is partly responsible, his red card in Serbia’s thrashing at home to England proving costly as it left him suspended for their ultimately decisive 1-0 loss to Albania.

Not his finest moment, but he’s unquestionably a quality centre-back.

LB: Milos Kerkez

Admittedly, the Hungarian has desperately struggled in his early months at Liverpool, but it shouldn’t be forgotten how outstanding he was for Bournemouth last season.

There’s a reason that the reigning Premier League champions identified him as a solid addition. We’re not writing him off just yet.

DM: Carlos Baleba

Rated as one of the best young defensive midfielders in Europe, Brighton’s Baleba hasn’t had a shining start to the 2025-26 campaign.

Form is temporary though, and it appears as though a mega £100million move to one of the Premier League’s top sides is his destiny.

Gone are the days when clubs would seemingly scout and sign players based on one decent summer tournament.

If anything, a proper summer’s rest might actually make Baleba more appealing to potential suitors following Cameroon’s 1-0 play-off defeat to DR Congo.

CM: Konstantinos Karetsas

The 17-year-old hyped as the ‘Greek Messi’ was born and raised in Genk and represented Belgium at four different youth levels before declaring for the country of his parents earlier this year.

He’s scored three goals in eight appearances on the international stage already, while he continues developing his skills for his hometown club Genk.

You imagine that he’ll soon outgrow the Belgian Pro League, if he hasn’t already. Arsenal are said to be at the front of the queue for his signature, but a number of other Premier League clubs are reportedly keeping tabs.

Unfortunately, this is one wonderkid who won’t be lighting up the World Cup. Greece found themselves out of the running as Scotland and Denmark did battle for the top spot in the final round of fixtures.

CM: Dominik Szoboszlai

The Liverpool midfielder looked absolutely bereft and lost for words after Troy Parrott’s last-gasp match-winner cost Hungary a place in the World Cup play-offs.

He’d looked head and shoulders Hungary’s best player as they succumbed to a gut-punch of a defeat to the Republic of Ireland on home soil – at times looking like singlehandedly dragging them to the next round.

“It hurts. It hurts because we really wanted it!” Szoboszlai posted on Instagram the following day.

“Not only for us but for you too. For you, who are always by our side and would accompany us to the end of the world.

“As Team Captain, I’m sorry I didn’t make it this time… Very proud of all players, staff and coaches. I love being Hungarian, even when life tests me. Someday every detail will fall into place, that’s why we work again and again. You are, what is mine.

“We owe you and us a World Cup! The work has begun again.

“I love you Hungary!”

FWR: Bryan Mbeumo

Mbeumo has hit the ground running at Manchester United, arguably their best player so far this season as Ruben Amorim finally seems to be turning a corner.

They’ll be losing their star forward for a few weeks mid-season as he flies off to participate in the upcoming AFCON, but on the plus side he’ll have the summer off after Cameroon’s recent heartbreak.

ST: Victor Osimhen

Beating Benjamin Sesko, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Dusan Vlahovic, Alexander Isak and Vangelis Pavlidis for the starting spot up top, we couldn’t look past Osimhen.

He might be playing his football in the Turkish Super League, but he’s recently offered a reminder he’s surely one of the very best No.9s in world football with six goals in three Champions League appearances this season. That includes a hat-trick against Ajax and a match-winner against Liverpool.

Osimhen stepped up for Nigeria with two goals in their play-off victory over Gabon, but he suffered a hamstring injury in their subsequent match against DR Congo and was badly missed as the Super Eagles suffered a penalty shootout defeat in his absence.

Nigeria made it to six of seven World Cups between 1994 and 2018, but now they’ve failed to make it to two in a row.

FWL: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

Georgia were a wonderful breath of fresh air at the last Euros, but navigating a tough qualifying group with Spain and Turkey proved a bridge too far for Kvaratskhelia’s Georgia.

The PSG treble-winner remains one of modern football’s great entertainers. There are few elite footballers that possess the ability to thrill like Kvaradona when he’s got the ball at his feet.