Top stars who may not play at the 2026 World Cup

Every footballer dreams of playing in the World Cup – the biggest sporting event in the world. 

However, with several big teams at risk of missing out on the prestigious tournament, many stars may not be able to showcase their skills in the United States, Mexico and Canada. 

Here are four footballers who may not play at the 2026 World Cup. 

Gianluigi Donnarumma – Italy

After failing to qualify for the previous World Cup, Italy are in danger of missing out on next summer’s tournament. 

Gianluigi Donnarumma has made an impressive start to life at Manchester City, keeping four clean sheets in eight Premier League starts.

He will hope to continue his form when Italy play crucial qualifiers against Moldova and Norway. 

Alexander Isak – Sweden

Alexander Isak has failed to meet the expectations of Liverpool supporters after joining the club for £125 million last summer.

His hopes of playing for Sweden in the World Cup are also remote.

They must beat Switzerland and Slovenia in November while also hoping that Kosovo loses both their matches against the same opponents. 

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – Georgia

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was a key member of the Paris Saint-Germain team that won the Champions League last season.

However, the 24-year-old is unlikely to feature in the World Cup next summer.

Georgia’s chances of displacing Turkey for the play-off spot are slim, with the latter needing just one point to claim second place in their group/

Dusan Vlahovic – Serbia

Serbia manager Dragan Stojkovic resigned after the 1-0 home defeat to Albania last month.

Veljko Paunovic replaced him and started his reign with a 3-1 win against Andorra. Serbia are now third in Group K behind England and Albania. 

Striker Dusan Vlahovic may miss out on the World Cup if Serbia fail to perform well against England and Latvia in their remaining qualifiers.

Stats from Transfermarkt.