Even before the first football match at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, fans who have not watched the tournament qualifiers will be shocked: The reigning European champion and four-time World Cup champion, Italy will not be in the list. among the attendees.
Although the failure to qualify for this team has confused, this is not the only big name absent from the Qatar 2022 list.
Several other big teams from Europe, South America and Africa will also watch the tournament at home.
Here are some parties that will not be on the plane to Qatar in November:
Italy
Rating: 6
The best show at the World Cup: Winner (1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006)
Italy missed out on securing a spot after a 92nd-minute loss to North Macedonia in the playoff semi-finals in March. Their presence in the knockout stages is also a surprise, given their Euro 2020 win last year and a string of good results in pre-tournament qualifiers.
However, in the next five matches, they won only once and were led to four draws. Second place behind Switzerland took them to the knockout stages, where they failed to score and found themselves missing the World Cup for the second time in a row.
Colombia
Rating: 17
The best show at the World Cup: Quarterfinals (2014)
Boasting former World Cup Golden Shoe winner James Rodriguez, and impressive performances in the last two tournaments, Colombia is one of the favorites to secure a spot at Qatar 2022.
The South American team finished sixth in the CONMEBOL qualifiers, one point behind Peru in taking the playoff spot after the top four secured automatic qualification.
Rodriguez, who has played club football in Qatar for a year, shared his frustration and said he was “deeply hurt” in a lengthy social media post after his side failed to pass. passed the qualifying round.
Switzerland
Rating: 20
The best show at the World Cup: Runner-up (1958)
Sweden has featured in 12 of the 21 world cups. The country hosted the tournament in 1958 when the best team reached the final, where they lost a high-scoring match to Brazil.
The journey to Qatar of the 2018 quarter-finalists was derailed when they lost 3 of 6 matches in the second leg of the qualifying round last year. They finished second in the group behind Spain and pitted Poland in the knockout round.
The playoffs took place in Poland and the home team made the most of their support with a 2-0 victory and ended the young Swedish team’s dream of reaching Qatar.
Chile
Rating: 29
The best show at the World Cup: Third place (1962)
Chile has been at the World Cup since its first in 1930. They hosted the tournament in 1962 and finished third overall.
In recent tournaments (1998, 2010 and 2014), Chile all reached the round of 16. Those performances went to the likes of Arturo Vidal, Gary Medel and Alexis Sanchez. With the declining performance of these players, it is difficult for Chile to get a favorable result.
They won only one of the last four qualifying matches for Qatar 2022. Chile then sought to eliminate Ecuador by claiming that Byron Castillo of Ecuador was Colombian and ineligible to represent Ecuador.
However, FIFA stated that the player has permanent Ecuadorian citizenship and is qualified to represent the country conform to the rules.
Nigeria
Rating: thirty first
The best show at the World Cup: Round 16 (1994, 1998, 2014)
Nigeria debuted at the 1994 World Cup and immediately became a hit with fans thanks to its attacking play and entertaining goal celebrations.
The Super Eagles topped their group but were knocked out of the tournament in the round of 16 after a stunning comeback against Italy led by Roberto Baggio.
Since then, the Super Eagles were only absent from the 2006 tournament before returning again when the World Cup took place in South Africa four years later.
This time, Nigeria’s dream of playing against a large number of expatriate Nigerians went up in smoke when they drew both legs of the play-off against Ghana. The second leg saw Ghana overtake Qatar away from home.
Russia
Rating: 35
The best show at the World Cup: Fourth (in 1966 with the Soviet Union), quarterfinals (2018)
The only country that was forced to be politically expelled from the 2022 World Cup is Russia. FIFA announces the expulsion of the team from all competitions after Russia Invasion of Ukraine this early year.
Russia was one of the favorites to qualify from Europe and built on its run at the 2018 edition, where they made it to the quarterfinals. Russia filed an appeal against the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport but later withdrew it.
The team’s history at the World Cup is divided into two. First the Soviet Union until the 1990 tournament. After that, Russia qualified for three world cups until 2014, before going on to host the 2018 tournament, where they were eliminated on penalties.
Egypt
Rating: 40
The best show at the World Cup: Group stage (1934, 1990, 2018)
With a World Cup taking place in the Middle East, Mohamed Salah leading the team and a large number of foreigners in Qatar, Egypt will have a chance to qualify for the 2022 event.
Their biggest star, however, was Salah who missed his penalty along with two others as Egypt drew with Senegal in the playoffs.
Egypt have failed to make it past the group stage in all three World Cups in which they have participated. The 2018 edition saw a disappointing end as Salah was not fully fit due to a shoulder injury.
Algeria
Rating: 37
The best show at the World Cup: Round 16 (2014)
It was one of the most impressive endings of World Cup qualifiers, and one of the world’s finals.
Algeria are on track to progress to Qatar 2022 after scoring the goal in extra time later than Cameroon in their playoff match.
However, Karl Toko Ekambi scored a few seconds before the final whistle sounded and put his side on the basis of away goals.
Algeria’s coach, Djamel Belmadi, was left stunned and unresolved while Cameroon celebrated their return to the league.
