Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal and Man United, Players Could Miss Out on 48-Team World Cup Expansion
As the World Cup qualifying tournaments across different continents start to wind down, we’re beginning to get a better idea of which nations and consequently which elite players may still be at risk of losing out on a tournament that practically everyone (well, 48 countries) can now qualify for.
It’s safe to say that the danger for these men still varies from “mild” to “extreme” to “confirmed,” and there will be a lot to monitor during the upcoming international breaks in November and March.
Since qualifying for the World Cup has changed significantly in many regions, you can see how it operates here for the newly expanded 48-team competition.
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As you can see, there are a number of well-known European nations that are very appreciative of the enormous safety net that is available to teams that won their most recent Nations League group, regardless of level.
Gianluigi Donnarumma
Country: (Italy)
In addition to costing manager Luciano Spalletti his job, Italy’s defeat by an incredibly strong Norway team could lose them a spot at the World Cup, which would include the new Manchester City custodian.
With three games remaining, a squad that is six points behind the Haaland-powered Norway machine already appears to be in the play-offs at best.
Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres
Country: (Sweden)
Let’s start the Liverpool-Arsenal debates on Isak and Viktor Gyokeres’ superiority, which are always amusing and never dull. Then they charge in, full of mischief, and declare that Dejan Kulusevski is the real answer.
The key takeaway, though, is that all of them are currently in grave danger of missing the World Cup.
Sweden, for example, appears to be extremely grateful for the Nations League-based safety net that will help them advance to the play-offs, as they currently sit glumly at the bottom of their qualifying group at the halfway point, three points behind second-place Kosovo and eight points behind perennial qualifiers Switzerland.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Country: (Georgia)
After joining PSG and quickly achieving a triple crown in just six months, Kvaratskhelia has advanced to a new level and is now regarded as one of the world’s top players.
He still has a long way to go, though, as Georgia must advance through the most difficult and competitive qualifying region—the one that has the least advantage from the expansion to 48 teams.
Georgia needs to place in the top two to have any chance, as they currently lag Spain and Turkey in Group E.
Robert Lewandowski
Country: (Poland)
Poland’s talisman was replaced as captain by coach Michal Probierz after he excused himself from the June international break due to “mental tiredness.” In reaction, Lewandowski declared he would not return to Poland unless the coach was fired.
After a humiliating 2-1 loss to Finland following the Lewandowki altercation, Probierz was gone by the time the September internationals rolled around, and Lewandowski returned for a thrilling 1-1 draw in Holland that was sealed by a late equaliser from Matty Cash.
Fears of losing out completely have subsided after a 3-1 victory over Finland, but even a victory over the Netherlands over the upcoming international break is unlikely to spare them from the difficult play-off paths, which will see 16 competitors of varying calibre reduced to four qualifiers.
Bryan Mbeumo
Country: (Cameroon)
A few traditional great names have found themselves in trouble, despite Africa being one of the major winners from the World Cup’s expansion.
Cameroon will need to finish among the top four runners-up from the nine groups in order to advance to the playoffs because it appears that they will not qualify to play Cape Verde in African Group D.
Additionally, winning the playoffs merely advances them to the intercontinental playoffs, which will determine the final two qualifiers in March.
The Cameroon team has many well-known players, but the biggest addition would be Manchester United’s summer acquisition of Brentford.
Kevin de Bruyne
Country: (Belgium)
They don’t exactly look like World Cup contenders after a first-round tie with North Macedonia and a clumsy 4-3 victory over Wales.
The issue is that Belgium has Wout Faes in the back despite having attacking quality in De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Jeremy Doku, Leandro Trossard, and Youri Tielemans.
It would be unfortunate if the Manchester City icon were to retire from international football due to a poor qualifying campaign.
Even though they might still win their group and avoid the play-offs, the Belgians have no way to advance from the Nations League into the play-offs, unlike their rivals Wales and North Macedonia, who are now separated by just two points.
Nikola Milenkovic
Country: (Serbia)
The centre back is having a difficult time dealing with the Angeball whirlwind at the club level.
He is currently injured and unable to assist his Serbia teammates in avoiding a 1-0 loss to Latvia, which has made their hopes of finishing in the top two in England’s group appear slim. There is also no assistance from the Nations League in this case.
Victor Osimhen
Country: (Nigeria)
Nigeria is another African nation with a wealth of World Cup experience that seems destined to lose out.
Osimhen, a striker for Galatasaray and a mini-crisis contributor for Liverpool, is arguably the biggest international star from a team that has performed poorly to fall behind South Africa and Benin with one game remaining to try to turn the tide, but he is by no means alone.
Ademola Lookman, Ola Aina, Wilfrid Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho, and Alex Iwobi have all been engaged.
Yves Bissouma
Country: (Mali)
Mali’s failure to place third in their qualifying group, behind Ghana and Madagascar, put them out of favour at Tottenham and eliminated them from the World Cup.
To make things worse, he suffered a nasty-looking ankle injury during Mali’s campaign finale and was carried off the pitch on a stretcher.
