Eight teams have left the FIFA World Cup this year

Posted On: October 21, 2022

Even before the first kick of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, fans who have not followed the elimination of the tournament will not be among the participants of the current European champion and four-time World Cup winner.

Although her failure to qualify has caused the team some embarrassment, she is not the only big name missing from Qatar’s 2022 roster.

Several other top teams from Europe, South America and Africa will also watch the tournament from home.

Here are some destinations that will not be flying to Qatar in November:

Italy

Classification: 6

The best show of the World Cup: Winners (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006)

Italy lost out on qualifying after losing 92 minutes to North Macedonia in the semi-finals in March. Their appearance in the qualifiers was also a surprise given their victory at Euro 2020 last year and a number of strong results in the tournament’s qualifiers.

But in the next five games they only won once and were drawn in four draws. Their second place finish behind Switzerland took them to qualifying where they failed to score and they lost in the World Cup for the second time in a row.

Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for the second time in a row [Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters]

Colombia

Classification: 17

The best show of the World CupQuarter-finals (2014)

Colombia, who have already won the Golden Boot at the World Cup, James Rodriguez and their impressive performances in the last two editions of the tournament, was one of the favorites to win the Golden Boot in Qatar 2022.

The South American team finished sixth in the South American qualifier, one point behind Peru, which finished in the playoffs after the top four teams earned automatic qualification.

Rodriguez, who played football for a year in Qatar, expressed his disappointment and said he was “seriously injured” in a lengthy social media post after his side failed to qualify.

Sweden

Classification: twenty

The best show of the World Cup: Second place (1958)

Sweden have participated in 12 of the 21 World Cup tournaments. The country hosted the tournament in 1958 when the team had the best result, reaching the final, in which they again lost a high-scoring match to Brazil.

Qatar’s 2018 quarter-final trip was cut short when they lost three of six qualifiers in the second leg last year. They took second place in their group behind Spain and entered the qualifier against Poland.

The play-offs took place in Poland and the hosts took full advantage of their growth, winning 2-0 and ending the young Swedish side’s dream of reaching Qatar.

Chile

Classification: 29

The best show of the World Cup: 3 place (1962)

Chile have been present in the World Cup finals since the first edition in 1930. In 1962 they hosted the tournament and finished third.

In the last editions (1998, 2010 and 2014), Chile reached the round of 32 and these appearances have accompanied players like Arturo Vidal, Gary Medel and Alexis Sanchez. As the number of these players decreases, Chile struggles to produce positive results.

They have only won one of the last four qualifying games for Qatar in 2022. Chile was then trying to disqualify Ecuador, claiming that Ecuadorian Byron Castillo was Colombian and could not represent Ecuador.

However, FIFA said the player has permanent Ecuadorian citizenship and is allowed to represent the country as per regulations.

Chilean Alexis Sanchez seems depressed after his elimination [Marcelo Hernandez/Reuters]

Nigeria

Classification: 31

The best show of the World Cup: 1/8 final (1994, 1998, 2014)

Nigeria made their debut at the 1994 World Cup and became an instant hit with the crowd thanks to their attacking style of play and fun goal celebration.

The Eagles topped their group but were knocked out in the Round of 16 after an incredible comeback from Italy under Roberto Baggio.

The Super Eagles have since left the 2006 tournament before returning to the South African World Cup four years later.

This time, Nigeria’s dreams of playing in front of large numbers of Nigerian expats were shattered when they equalized in the play-offs against Ghana. In the second leg, Ghana qualified for Qatar on the basis of an away goal.

Football fans in Nigeria — Nigeria’s dreams of playing against a large number of expatriate Nigerians were shattered when they equalized in the play-offs against Ghana. [Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters]

Russia

Classification: 35

The best show of the World Cup: 4th place (1966 as Soviet Union), quarter-finals (2018).

The only political exclusion from the 2022 World Cup is Russia. FIFA have announced that the team will be banned from all competitions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.

Russia were one of the favorites to qualify from Europe and continue the race in the 2018 edition, reaching the quarter-finals. Russia appealed the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but later withdrew it.

The history of the team at the World Cup is divided into two parts. Initially representing the Soviet Union for the 1990 championship, Russia went on to qualify for three World Cups until 2014 before hosting the 2018 edition where they were eliminated on penalties.

Egypt

Classification: 40

The best show of the World CupGroup stages (1934, 1990, 2018)

With the World Cup taking place in the Middle East, Mohamed Salah leading the team and a large number of expatriates from Qatar, Egypt would have a chance to qualify for the tournament in 2022.

However, their biggest star Salah missed a penalty with two others as Egypt drew against Senegal in the playoffs.

Egypt have failed to advance from the group stage in the three World Cups they have participated in. The 2018 edition ended with a disappointing end as Salah was not fully functional due to a shoulder injury.