The 2022 World Cup is here and the field of 32 teams is set. Several World Cup regulars will be missing the big tournament this year. Here are some of the best teams not in World Cup 2022 that will be missed.
This list will go by region and is based on if the team has had previous World Cup appearances. The list also includes the country's FIFA ranking in the parentheses.
FRANKFURT, Germany - Defending champions Italy will face England in their Euro 2024 qualifying group, a repeat of last year's tournament final, following the draw on Sunday in Frankfurt's Festhalle.
The Italians, who beat England 3-2 on penalties at London's Wembley stadium in 2021 to lift the trophy will also play North Macedonia, who prevented Roberto Mancini's side from reaching the World Cup, and Malta in Group C.
On Monday, Italy blanked their Hungarian opponents 2-0 thanks in large part to a spectacular display from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Gianluigi Buffon’s heir-apparent for the Azzurri made a host of incredible saves, keeping Hungary off the scoresheet as Italy topped their group and qualified for the Nations League finals next summer.
MILAN — England's sorry Nations League run continued on Friday as Giacomo Raspadori's 68th-minute strike gave Italy a deserved 1-0 win that relegated the shot-shy visitors to the second tier League B and kept the Italians in the hunt to top Group 3.
There was little to provide optimism for England’s fans with Qatar only two months away but at least they will be going, unlike Italy, still trying to come to terms with their failure to qualify for the second World Cup in a row either side of winning the European Championship.
Already the ugliest World Cup on every conceivable grounds, it seems like Puma has elected to pay homage to that fact with a horrendous new collection of away kits for its stable of competitors in Qatar — Switzerland, Uruguay, Senegal, Serbia, Ghana and Morocco.
I feel bad for Switzerland. Here they are, qualifying for major tournament after major tournament with a population the size of Virginia, doing things like eliminating France at Euro 2020, and Puma does something like this to them. It's completely uncalled for.
With nine successive Serie A titles followed by two campaigns where Champions League qualification seemed a shallow silver lining, Juventus’ fall from grace has been clear to see in recent years. This summer has seen several big names depart Turin, and the Bianconeri will be hard-pressed to find adequate replacements in order to once again fight for the Scudetto.
Last month, MLS club LAFC completed the signing of Giorgio Chiellini on a free transfer from Juventus. He's the league's second major Italian signing this summer after Lorenzo Insigne joined Toronto FC on a free transfer.
More than half of all players at the finals of last year's European Championship and Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) were subjected to some form of discriminatory abuse online, a report published by global soccer governing body FIFA has revealed.
Another week, another batch of cool jerseys dropped in the soccer world for the 2022-23 season.
Barcelona is in the headlines after unveiling a very decent, Olympic-vibe kit for next season, one that luckily is letting us forget the monstrosity they donned in the last campaign.