Not all the big names of world football will be present when the first ball is kicked at Moscow in the FIFA World Cup 2018.
While other heavyweights such as Germany, Brazil, Argentina and Spain are back on the big stage, there are a few perennial contenders noticeably missing from the list of 32 teams that will compete for World Cup glory and immortality.
Today, we take a look at the FIFA 2018 all-absentee list and revisit the tumultuous year they had heading to their failure to make the cut.
Italy
This one is a given, isn’t it? Four-time World Cup winners and ranked 15th in the world (20th now), there’s no way the Italians would miss the trip to Russia, right?
However, in what is unarguably the biggest shock of the World Cup 2018 Europe qualifiers, the Azzurri missed out on the all-important tournament for the first time in 60 years.
Italy were unfortunate to be in the same group as Spain in the qualifiers. Their 23 points would have put them through if there were in Group D or I—though that’s still up for debate against a different pool of opponents.
Nevertheless, Italy have no one to blame but themselves after failing to beat Sweden in the playoff. Sweden last made the World Cup in 2006, but Italy were not good enough and lacked the world-class players who can make a difference.
The likes of Gianluigi Buffon, Daniele De Rossi, Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli have announced their retirement from Italy duty after the failure, though Buffon un-retired for the meantime to help guide the next generation of national team players.
Netherlands
In hindsight, the Netherlands’ failure to qualify for Euro 2016 was already a sign of bad things to come.
The Dutchmen weren’t able to make it to the group stage of Europe’s top competition after going down to a relatively weaker Czech Republic side. Little did we know that was also the start of the team’s fall to mediocrity in international football.
Indeed, the Netherland were far from the Johan Cruyff-led Netherlands team that reached two straight World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978. Heck, they weren’t even close to their squads of the past eight years that placed second in the 2010 World Cup and third in 2014.
In the end, the Flying Dutchmen finished third in Group A of the World Cup qualifiers, no thanks to their lack of goals that led to a massive goal difference against Sweden. Sure enough, one could only imagine what could have been had they won the Bulgaria game—one that led to Danny Blind’s sacking from the top post.
United States
In a group that featured Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and Honduras, the USA were easy picks to make it to the World Cup. Not only do they have more talent, but they also boast far more superior resources than their opponents.
However, if there’s one thing we learned about the current USA team, it’s that they lack cojones. After all, how could a team lose to a Trinidad & Tobago squad—ranked 99th in the world back then—with a World Cup spot on the line!?
Even a draw would have catapulted the USA to the big stage, but they have to choke in the decider of all times. Their back-to-back defeats at the start of the Hexagonal left them with little room for mistakes as well, and Bruce Arena’s controversial player selection came back hurting them.
The USMNT have a future superstar in Christian Pulisic, but their collapse is a massive blow to a nation that has likely seen the last of Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard in the world’s grandest event.
Chile
A top-10 team missing the World Cup 2018 games? That’s completely unthinkable!
Nonetheless, that’s what happened to world no.9 Chile who flattened out in the final turn of the South America qualification stage after a hot start.
La Roja were well on course to Russia 2018, going unbeaten in their opening three games, but they lost three of their last four matches that dropped them to sixth and out of the qualifying and playoff spots.
While there were controversies that Peru and Colombia players had a “gentleman agreement” to draw their final game to allow both teams to progress, there’s still no denying that Chile have always had their fate in their hands.
They have world-class players in Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal but still found themselves in the thick of the race to qualify. Now, the back-to-back Copa America champions will be watching the World Cup from home while wondering what went wrong in their seemingly stable campaign.
Cameroon
The best team in Africa won’t be playing in the World Cup. No matter how confusing that might sound, that’s the reality for the reigning African Champions after their ugly performance in the final round of qualifying.
Cameroon ended their run with just one win in six games, drawing four and losing the other as they finished third in their group. Only the top team in each of the five groups were given a ticket to the Russia event.
It means that the Indomitable Lions’ recent revival was short-lived and that we won’t see who would carry the torch of Samuel Eto’o any time soon.
Additionally, Cameroon’s fall denied them what would have been a record eighth World Cup appearance for the most successful African nation in the competition.
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