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Six star players that will be not be at the World Cup this summer
The World Cup is perceived by many to be the pinnacle of football – a competition where the be൲st teams and players in the world come together to play the beautiful game.
Whilst the tournament in Russia will be the largest international football competition in history, with more teams participating than ever before, a number of high profile figures will be 🐲conspicuous by their absence this summer.
Here, The Boot Room highlight six star players thatꦅ will not b💃e at the World Cup.
Gareth Bale
Bale was one of the outstanding figures at Euro 2016 as Wales reached the semi-finals but the once football pl🎃ayer in the world will not be in Russia this sum𒆙mer.
The 28-year-old has struggled with injuries throughout the season and has only been a bit-part figure at Real Madrid for much of the campaign. However, he remains one of the most dynami🐠c attacking players in European football and ꦦprovided everyone with a reminder of his ability with an astonishing brace in the Champions League final.
Unfortunately, Bale will have to be content with watching his R꧟eal Madrid team mate Cristiano Ronaldo take centre stage this summer as Wales failed to qualify for this year’s competition.
Radja Nainggolan
The Belgian midfielder has been a cru🔴cial factor in Roma’s success this season, including helping the team to reach the semi🅷-finals of the Champions League.
Nainggolan is renowned for the quality of his passing and the consistency of his play and is widely regarded as being one of the leading central midfielders in Serie A. He also possesses an abundance of experience at international level and was part of the Belgian squad that competed at E𝐆uro 2016.
However, thꦏe 30-year-old will not be in Russia this summer having been omitted from 🔴 squad and has subsequently announced his retirement from international football.
It is worth notin📖g that Belgium are certainly not short of quality in midfield – Kevin de Bryne, Alex Witsel, Mousa Dembele and Marouane Fellaini were all selected ahead of Nainggolan.
Virgil Van Dijk
The Dutchman became the most expensive defender in world footb🍸all after joining Liverpool in January for from Premier League rivals Southampton, yet he will not feature at the World Cup this summer following Holland’s failure ꦫto qualify.
Van Dijk has flourished since arriving at Anfield and played a key role in helping the club to reach the Champions League final. He has add🦄ed steel, organisation and a ne🧔w sense of resoluteness to Liverpool’s back line and, when on form, he makes the art of defending look infuriatingly easy.
However, the Dutch finished third in qualification Group A, misꦯsing out on a play-off sp🌸ot to Sweden on goal difference, which means that Holland have failed to qualify for both of the previous two major international tournaments.
David Luiz
There is always a sense o﷽f excitement when Brazil arrive at an international tournament and in Neymar the team undoubtedly possꦍess one of the best players in the world.
However, Chelsea defender David Luiz was omitted from Tite’s squad earlier this month meaning꧙ that the 31-year-old’s famous hair will not be on show in Russia.
Luiz has struggled for form and fitness throughout the campaign and has fallen considerablꦬy down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge following a string of injuries. However, Brazil are not blessed✅ with an abundance of defensive talent and his omission has come as a surprise to many.
The Chelsea star would have been looking forward to redeeming himself in Russia after his horror-show in the 2014 World Cup, where he was part of the side that were beaten 7-1 by Germany on home soil, but will ultimately have to be content🎶 with watching the action from home.
Gianluigi Buffon
Buffon has been a prominent feature of international football for the previous two decades and has been present at all of the previous nine major intꦍernational tournaments. However, this year he will be absent from the World Cup for the first time since 2002.
The 40-year-old has been a constant feature for Italy since making his debut in 1997 and holds the record for the most international appearances having appeared 176 times for his country. He was part of the Italian team that won the World Cup in 2006 and has been an integral꧙ to the modern success of Juventus.
Buffon announced in May that𝓰 he would retire at the end of the current campaign and Italy’s failure to qualify for Russi♉a meant that the legendary goalkeeper was denied one last World Cup appearance.
Karim Benzema
The French forward is widely considered to have been one the leading striker’s in world football throughout the last decade, yet the 30-year-old will not be in Russia this s🎉ummer as his international exile continues.
Benzema, who scored in the Champions League final last month and has been a prominent figure for Real Madri𒀰d over the last 🉐nine years, has scored 27 goals in 81 international appearances for Les Bleus and has been named as the French Player of the Year on three occasions.
However, he has not been selected for international duty since October 2015 after initially being suspended by the French Football Federation due to his . Benzema was expected to be recalled ahead of Euro 2016 but, despite rumours of a potential r♕eturn, he was not selected as the team finished runners-up in the tournament.
Benzema has admitted that he has not received an explanation from France coach Didier Deschamps regarding his international exile and it appears unlikely𝐆 that he will feature at a major competition again.