So many of the world’s best players will be missing out on Qatar 2022. He’s our roster of those who were hurt, snubbed or whose teams failed to qualify.
Every four years, soccer’s biggest party invites the sport’s brightest stars for a monthlong showcase. A number of top players deserve to be on the bouncer’s list by their own individual merit—this is, after all, supposed to be a gathering of the best the world has to offer. Yet some didn’t make it by virtue of their teams’ being too weak to beat continental competition to the coveted tournament spots. Others, in this sardine-box schedule of club soccer packed tightly to accommodate a winter World Cup, picked up injuries in the weeks before the tournament that will keep them watching from home. Still more weren’t selected to their national team despite strong form (or at least a strong history with the national team).
So the question is: What if all these players, fueled by their FOMO, joined forces to create their own squad and crash this grand party?
This hypothetical requires a few qualifiers. For one, we’re going to pretend that all injured players magically heal on their last-minute flight to Doha. Additionally, recent form was not the deciding factor, but it was at play in these roster decisions. And plenty of excellent players are still going to have their invite to this shindig lost in the mail. Cutting down a roster of all-world talent to just 26 is no easy task. But even the ones that didn’t make the cut deserve to at least be a part of the conversation.
*Denotes injury.
**Denotes not selected for squad.
Attackers
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Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia), Erling Haaland (Norway), Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
Subs: Luis Díaz (Colombia), Roberto Firmino** (Brazil), Diogo Jota* (Portugal), Christopher Nkunku* (France), Victor Osimhen (Nigeria)
Just missed: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Federico Chiesa (Italy), Sebastian Haller (Ivory Coast), Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden), Alexander Isak (Sweden), Dejan Kulusevski (Sweden), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria), Jadon Sancho** (England), Ivan Toney** (England), Timo Werner* (Germany)
We start with one of the stories of global soccer right now: Haaland’s pure domination of the Premier League. His seamless move to the English top flight means he’d slide right into this hodgepodge squad. On the left wing, Kvaratskhelia is lighting the world on fire at Napoli. Just 21, the Georgian will eventually have a chance to put his nation in its first World Cup, especially with expansion to 48 teams coming in 2026. Then there’s Salah, whose form rarely wavers. Egypt missed out on a chance at Qatar in a playoff loss to Senegal on penalty kicks, so the 30-year-old will likely get only one more shot at a World Cup.
Jota would be first off the bench. The Liverpool man’s injury is devastating for a Portugal side that will rely on Rafael Leão as well as an out-of-form João Félix and Cristiano Ronaldo. Nkunku is another victim of an untimely injury—he was hurt in training Tuesday, just a week before France’s opening match. Alongside them are Napoli’s Osimhen, who has scored nine times in 11 league matches, as well as Liverpool’s Díaz and Man City’s Mahrez, whose national teams all didn’t reach Qatar.
Midfielders
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Martin Ødegaard (Norway), Thiago** (Spain), N’Golo Kanté* (France)
Subs: Hakan Çalhanoğlu (Turkey), Giovanni Lo Celso* (Argentina), Paul Pogba* (France), Marco Verratti (Italy), Georginio Wijnaldum* (Netherlands)
Just missed: Jorginho (Italy), Franck Kessié (Ivory Coast), Dominik Szoboszlai (Hungary)
Ødegaard has turned himself into one of the world’s top creative midfielders in a renaissance season with Arsenal. Providing cover for the back line would be Kanté, who has battled injuries and fallen out of the Chelsea starting lineup this year, but he was crucial to France’s win in 2018. Thiago wasn’t selected to his second World Cup in a Spain shirt by manager Luis Enrique, and while his form has suffered as Liverpool has declined, he’s still one of the sport’s best midfielders.
Pogba’s bizarre year—the release of a docuseries on his life that flopped, extortion claims and accusations from his brother that he used a witch doctor to harm Kylian Mbappé, etc.—ultimately ended in his missing a shot in Qatar due to a lengthy injury. Lo Celso, who was key for La Albiceleste in qualifying, suffered an injury just a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately for the Villarreal midfielder, he grabbed a spot on this bench, and while he won’t be combining with countryman Lionel Messi, he’d have plenty of attacking talent to feed on this team. Wijnaldum’s broken tibia in August kept him out of another strong Dutch squad. The trio would be joined by PSG’s Verratti and Inter Milan’s Çalhanoğlu, whose sides are watching from home.
Defenders
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Andy Robertson (Scotland), David Alaba (Austria), Sergio Ramos** (Spain), Reece James* (England)
Subs: Presnel Kimpembe* (France), Ferland Mendy** (France), Fikayo Tomori** (England)
Just missed: Sven Botman** (Netherlands), Ben Chilwell* (England), Juan Cuadrado (Colombia), Merih Demiral (Turkey), Gabriel** (Brazil), Guillermo Maripán (Chile), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Ukraine)
Ramos is another of the members of the Spanish old guard that has been phased out by Luis Enrique. He suffered injuries in his first season with PSG, and the Real Madrid legend and country’s all-time cap leader couldn’t get into Spain’s squad despite better form this year with his club. James is one of the most crucial injury misses of the tournament. One of the best right backs in the world, he seemed to have taken over the starting role for England from Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker. But a knee injury suffered while playing for Chelsea kept him out of the squad. Liverpool’s Robertson and Real Madrid’s Alaba, two of the best left-sided defenders in the world, round out the starting defense.
On the bench is Kimpembe, who suffered a hamstring injury several months ago and lost out on his chance to defend France’s title. Tomori was one of the biggest qualms fans had with the England squad. He’s been excellent with AC Milan, but didn’t get a shot at Qatar despite some questionable options being selected by manager Gareth Southgate. Mendy will make up the only wide defender on this bench. His lack of attacking prowess likely left him out of the France squad, but the Real Madrid left back is a valuable defender. There are many other fullbacks that deserved to be in this squad, but the attacking talent available was too good to pass up. Seven defenders will have to do.
Goalkeeper
Maurizio Borsari/AFLOSPORT/Imago Images
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy)
Subs: David de Gea** (Spain), Jan Oblak (Slovenia)
Donnarumma hasn’t really recaptured that magic that led him to become the Euro 2020 player of the tournament since his move to PSG. But he’s still one of the best young goalkeepers in the world. Italy’s failure to qualify for the second straight cycle means he’ll be 27 playing in his first World Cup—if Gli Azzurri reach the ’26 tournament.
de Gea is another curious case of Enrique’s squad selection. He’s had a very nice season with a surging Manchester United squad, overcoming what seemed to be several years of decline. But the Spain manager instead went with a trio of younger options. Oblak, on the other hand, may not ever get to feature on the global stage. One of his nation’s best players has been a staple in Atlético Madrid’s goal for years. But unless there is a significant turnaround over the next four years, Oblak will likely play his decorated career without seeing the pitch at a World Cup.