Star Players Who Will Miss the 2026 FIFA World Cup

Kathmandu. Robert Lewandowski of Poland, one of the finest strikers of the last 15 years, is among the big names who will not play in the 2026 World Cup in Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

The 37-year-old Barcelona striker, who has scored 89 goals for his country, could not save his team from a 3-2 defeat against Sweden in the play-off final held in Stockholm on Tuesday.

Lewandowski, who has won the German Bundesliga title 10 times (twice with Borussia Dortmund and eight consecutive seasons with Bayern Munich) and La Liga twice with Barcelona, has likely played his last major international tournament.

Here, we discuss six famous players who failed to qualify for the final stages of the World Cup this time:

• Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City and Italy)

Since joining Manchester City from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) for £26 million in September after helping the French club win the Champions League last season, Donnarumma has become one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League this season.

Despite being named Player of the Tournament when Italy won the 2020 European Championship, he will miss the World Cup again after a 4-1 penalty shootout defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday.

• Serhou Guirassy (Borussia Dortmund and Guinea)

By scoring 62 goals in the German Bundesliga over the last three seasons, Serhou Guirassy has established himself as one of the most influential strikers in world football. No one scored more than his 13 goals in the 2024-25 Champions League.

But he will not be at the World Cup because his country, Guinea, was eliminated in the first round of the African qualifiers. Guinea finished fourth in the group with only 4 wins and 3 draws in 10 matches.

• Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Paris Saint-Germain and Georgia)

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia helped Paris Saint-Germain become European champions last season by scoring in the 5-0 win against Inter Milan in the final. He finished 12th in the 2025 Ballon d'Or awards.

However, Georgia's performance in the World Cup qualifiers was disappointing. They could only collect three points from a group that included Spain, Turkey, and Bulgaria.

• Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona and Poland)

Lewandowski captained Poland in the 2018 World Cup, but he failed to score as his country finished bottom of the group in Russia. Four years later in Qatar, his performance improved, where he scored two goals and Poland reached the last 16 before being defeated by France.

He scored four goals in Group 'G' during the 2026 qualifiers, but Poland finished three points behind the Netherlands and was defeated by Sweden in the play-offs on Tuesday.

• Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray and Nigeria)

Victor Osimhen helped Napoli win Serie 'A' in 2023. After moving to Galatasaray, he scored 26 goals in 30 matches last season to lead the team to the Turkish league title.

Nigeria finished one point behind group winners South Africa after drawing 5 of their 10 first-round group matches, but they had a second chance through the play-offs.

With Osimhen already substituted off the pitch, Nigeria lost to DR Congo on penalties and missed out on the World Cup.

• Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool and Hungary)

Liverpool and Hungary midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has impressed this season and scored some excellent long-range goals.

But he will not be at the World Cup. Hungary could not hold onto a 2-1 lead against the Republic of Ireland in the final group game. Ireland scored two goals in injury time to reach the play-offs, while Hungary was eliminated from qualification.

• Other Notable Names

The World Cup in June and July will be a grand celebration of football. However, other players who will not be there include goalkeeper Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid and Slovenia), left-back Milos Kerkez (Liverpool and Hungary), center-half Nikola Milenkovic (Nottingham Forest and Serbia), defender Willi Orban (RB Leipzig and Hungary), full-back Ola Aina (Nottingham Forest and Nigeria), midfielder Sandro Tonali (Newcastle and Italy), and winger Bryan Mbeumo (Manchester United and Cameroon).