Nearly all of the 32 places at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar later this year have been taken up following the latest round of fixtures in the current international break, with qualifying in all continents drawing to a close ahead of Friday’s final draw.
The majority of the world’s best teams have done their job and secured their spot at football’s most prestigious tournament with relative ease, but as with every World Cup, there are a few surprise omissions.
Here is a round-up of the biggest teams in the top 50 of the FIFA world rankings who have failed to qualify for Qatar 2022, along with the biggest stars who will be missing as a result.
Italy
By far the biggest nation not to qualify for this year’s tournament is four-time winners Italy, who have provided the biggest shock during qualification to ensure they will be missing out on their second consecutive World Cup, following their omission at Russia 2018.
Despite going unbeaten over eight matches in qualification, the European champions ended up drawing half of those matches to finish second behind Switzerland, in a group that also consisted of Northern Ireland, Bulgaria and Lithuania, and had to settle for a place in the play-offs.
They were drawn against minnows North Macedonia in their play-off semi-final, where victory would have seen them face fellow European giants Portugal in the final, but they produced a lacklustre display against their eastern European visitors and lost 1-0 after a 92nd minute winner from Aleksandar Trajkovski to end any hopes of qualification.
Would Italy have beaten Portugal in the play-off final had they beaten North Macedonia in the previous round? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Sweden
Sweden may not be one of Europe’s biggest heavyweights but standing at 17th in the FIFA World Rankings makes them the second biggest omission from the World Cup so far - a competition in which they have featured in five of the last eight.
Topping their qualifying group ahead of Spain was always going to be a big ask but they won five of their eight games to finish in second place ahead of Greece, Georgia and Kosovo to advance to the play-offs.
They were drawn against Czech Republic in their semi-final play-off, winning 1-0 thanks to Robin Quaison’s 110th minute winner in extra-time, but fell at the final hurdle with a 2-0 defeat to Poland to deny them a place in Qatar.
Colombia
Colombia are certainly one of the bigger teams who will not be competing at this year’s World Cup after failing to finish in the top five of the South American qualifying league, finishing just one point behind Peru to even miss out on the inter-confederation play-offs.
A disappointing campaign in which they won just five of their 18 games ensured they missed the chance to feature in their third consecutive World Cup, as they finished behind the likes of Ecuador and Peru despite the pool of talent within their set up.
Colombia, ranked 19th in the world, dazzled at the 2014 edition in Brazil as they reached the quarter-finals, before bowing out in the last 16 in Russia in 2018, but the likes of Luis Diaz, James Rodriguez and Juan Cuadrado will miss out in Qatar.
Chile
Another surprise omission from South America is Chile, who will miss out on their second consecutive World Cup after finishing outside the top five places in qualifying by five points after a campaign in which they also won just five of their 18 matches.
La Roja made it to the last 16 in both the 2014 and 2018 editions of the tournaments and often showcased an exciting style of play and plenty of talent within their previous squads, but failed to produce anything of the sort to make it to Qatar.
Failing to beat the likes of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru, despite possessing players such as Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sanchez and Eduardo Vargas, ultimately led to their downfall.
Nigeria
It is highly unlikely that Nigeria will ever win a World Cup but after qualifying for six of the last seven tournaments, they will certainly be one of the big misses in Qatar after being knocked out at the last hurdle.
The Super Eagles, ranked 32nd in the world, finished top of their second qualifying round group with relative ease, after winning four of their six matches against Cape Verde, Liberia and Central African Republic, to progress to the final stage.
They were drawn against Cameroon in a two-legged play-off and after drawing the first leg 0-0, the second leg ended 1-1, although they missed out after losing on the away goals rule.
Egypt
Despite just three previous World Cup appearances to their name, Egypt are one of the bigger nations to not qualify for Qatar 2022 after crashing out in their play-off final to Senegal on March 29, denying them a second consecutive tournament appearance.
The Pharaohs, ranked 34th in the world and with seven Africa Cup of Nations titles to their name, including finishing as runners-up in this year’s edition, topped their qualifying group with four wins from six to progress to the final play-off round.
But in a repeat of the AFCON 2021 final in February, they lost out to Senegal 3-1 on penalties following a 1-1 draw over both legs, meaning that Mohamed Salah will not be able to lead his country out in Qatar this year.
