Now that we know who will be making the World Cup next season, here are five players who have the quality to be there but will find themselves watching on TV as their countries failed to qualify.
1) Aaron Ramsey – Arsenal& Wales
The Arsenal man has been in sensational form this season, scoring 11 goals for his club and leading them to the top of the Premier League and the Gunners’ Champions League group.
The Wales midfielder is currently having the time of his life on the football pitch and if he continues the way he is going then it’ll be an awful shame that he won’t be there.
2) Gareth Bale – Real Madrid & Wales
Having moved to Real Madrid, Bale would have been imagining himself winning trophies and playing at the very top. While he may be picking up medals with Madrid come the end of the season, he won’t be at the biggest tournament of them all.
3) Robert Lewandowski – Borussia Dortmund & Poland
A out-and-out goal-getter, Lewandowski’s dreams of playing at the World Cup while in the form of his life has been torn up and thrown out of the window.
4) Zlatan Ibrahimovic – PSG & Sweden
Having watched Cristiano Ronaldo single handedly rip Sweden’s dreams apart, Zlatan also saw his World Cup hopes destroyed, as he reaches the tail end of his career.
5) Petr Cech – Chelsea & Czech Rebulic
The Chelsea keeper will have to watch a huge number of his club team-mates on the TV next summer as his country failed to qualify. Cech has one established himself as one of the finest shot-stoppers in Europe and it’s a shame that he won’t be there.