Top five players missing from Portugal's World Cup 2022 squad

Cristiano Ronaldo would perhaps be playing in his final quadrennial meet and would miss the services of these players.

As Portugal's squad prepare for the 2022 World Cup, head coach Fernando Santos did not select these players. Portugal will be making their eighth World Cup participation in Qatar, and coach Fernando Santos will be hoping that his team can live up to the hype. They are yet to win the coveted award, with their best finish being a third-place finish in 1966.

Could this be the year that Cristiano Ronaldo, finally, gets his hands on the trophy after qualifying via the playoffs? They were placed in Group H with Uruguay, Ghana, and South Korea. This is not an easy group to place in, but given their resources, they are likely to get to the knockouts, barring a dramatic shock.

The following are the top five players missing from Portugal's World Cup squad:

5. Goncalo Guedes

Goncalo Guedes' brilliance with Valencia last season seemed to make him a lock for Portugal's World Cup team, but his poor performances for Wolverhampton Wanderers have lost him a place on the plane to Qatar.

Guedes looked set to be the next Portuguese name to succeed at Molineux after sealing a £27.5m move to the Premier League, but his play this season has been quite poor, and he was left out of Fernando Santos' team for Qatar.

4. Pedro Neto

The Wolverhampton Wanderers winger, 22, will have surgery on an ankle injury suffered against West Ham United in October. The young player was expected to play in this World Cup but was unlucky due to the injury.

3. Diogo Jota

Diogo Jota, a Portuguese forward who plays for Liverpool, will not compete in the Qatar World Cup due to a "severe calf muscle condition," according to manager Jurgen Klopp, who made the announcement after the game against Manchester City. Additionally, Klopp affirmed that Jota does not require surgery.

2. Joao Moutinho

Joao Moutinho has vast experience both in club soccer and with the Portuguese national team. He has played for the under-17, under-19, and under-21 teams, as well as the senior team, where he has 126 games played, 7 goals, and 26 assists. In recent years, the experienced midfielder has been called up to play for his country, and he was expected to be among the 26 to travel to Qatar. He will not, however, go in the end.

1. Renato Sanches

Vitinha and Matheus Nunes are promising young players, while William Carvalho brings depth and experience to the lineup. Renato Sanches, long regarded as a generational prospect, has fallen short of expectations. He is fighting for minutes at PSG after coming in the summer, and as a result, he has missed the cut. He will be another one from the set of players missing from the World Cup squad for Portugal after winning the Euro 2016 for them.