Top five nations who failed to qualify for 2022 FIFA World Cup

These teams will be watching the action from home instead of taking part in it.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup is getting nearer by the day. It is by far the most prestigious tournament in football. Every country dreams of playing in the World Cup and winning it. It is the biggest honour a footballer can deliver for their nation. However, some major countries will not be a part of the upcoming tournament after failing to qualify.

There are only 32 slots available for the main tournament and the World Cup Qualifiers are brutal in terms of difficulty. A slip up here or there causes a team to potentially miss out on making it into the tournament. For the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, a few notable countries will not be taking part. 

The following countries have world-class players who will not be part of the extravaganza later in 2022. On that note, here is a look at the top five nations that will be missing out on the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar:

5. Nigeria

Nigeria are one of the strongest teams in the Confederation of African Football. The African nation will be absent from the 2022 FIFA World Cup after failing to qualify for the main draw for the first time since 2006. Popularly known as Super Eagles, they came up against Ghana in the two-legged playoff to secure qualification to the main draw. However, the first leg ended in a 0-0 draw and the second ended 1-1, sending Ghana through on the away goals rule.

Nigeria are ranked 30th in FIFA rankings and are the third-highest ranked country in Africa. Players like Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman and Kelechi Iheanacho will be some of the absentees at the World Cup in Qatar.

4. Chile

Chile are one of the major omissions from the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup. This is the second consecutive time the nation have missed the final bus to the World Cup. Their qualifying campaign was bitterly disappointing. Post winning only five of their 18 matches, the 2016 Copa America winners finished five points outside the top five places in qualifying.

In the end, Chile could only finish seventh, thereby failing to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. Players like Alexis Sanchez, Alex Vidal and Ben Brereton will be some of the notable absentees from the country.

3. Colombia

The second notable South American nation which has failed to qualify is Colombia. The outfit also finished outside the five qualification places in the final table from the CONMEBOL qualifiers. With only one point separating them and Peru for the final qualification place, it was a case of so near and yet so far for the 2001 Copa America winners.

Colombia are 17th in the FIFA world men’s rankings and are the fourth-best nation in South America. They made it to the quarter-final in 2014 and the last 16 in 2018, but will sit out for the 2022 edition. Players like Luis Diaz, James Rodriguez and Juan Cuadrado will be notable absentees from the country at the World Cup. 

2. Sweden

Sweden are one of the major European nations that will not be part of the grand tournament later this year. The outfit made it to the playoff fixtures after finishing second in their qualifying group. They beat the Czech Republic in the penultimate fixture, but lost the deciding tie 2-0 against Poland to fail to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 

The Swedish men’s national team are 19th in the world rankings and the second-highest-ranked team from Europe to miss out on qualification. Victor Lindelof, Emil Forsberg and Dejan Kulusevski are some of the major names from the country that will not be a part of the World Cup.

1. Italy

Italy are by far the biggest team that will not be playing at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The four-time winners of the prestigious tournament and reigning European champions could not secure qualification for the second time in a row. The Azzurri finished second in their qualifying group to end up making it into the playoffs. In the play-off semi-final, Italy came up against North Macedonia and despite being heavy favourites, lost the tie 1-0 thanks to an injury-time goal by Aleksandar Trajkovski.

That was a huge blow to Italian dreams of making the World Cup after failing to do so in 2018 as well. A potential mouth-watering play-off final tie between Italy and Portugal could not take place as a result. There are plenty of world-class Italian players such as Ciro Immobile, Marco Verratti, Jorginho and more that will be absent from the World Cup tournament in Qatar. 

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