With only a handful of matches remaining in World Cup qualifying, it’s become clear which nations are in serious danger of missing out on Russia next summer. While all will become clear in October, here are 25 global superstars who, if World Cup qualifying ended today, would either fail to appear at the tournament or would need to navigate a playoff to qualify.
Real Madrid's leading scorer so far this season is 21-year-old Spain international Marco Asensio, who has four goals in all competitions.
Asensio is the next great long-range shooter, having torn up Barcelona and Valencia for sagging off him. He's clearly an incredible talent and will be one of the world's best attackimg midfielders sooner rather than later, if he isn't that already.
The summer of 2000 saw the likes of England’s David Beckham and Steven Gerrard, France’s Zinedine Zidane and David Trezeguet and the Netherlands’ Patrick Kluivert all converge for the year’s marquee footballing event: UEFA Euro 2000.
Near the end of England's 2-1 win against Slovakia in UEFA World Cup qualifying, England's precocious and occasionally hotheaded young midfielder Dele Alli became fed-up with somebody.
Dele Alli tells his marker that he's number one. #england #engsvk pic.twitter.com/Tk3VW1rU49
You know the trick, the one where someone gets on all fours behind someone else's back, and a third someone pushes the second someone, who topples over the first someone?
Coutinho and Neymar were feeling a bit mischievous at Brazil training, so they did that trick to Brazil's giant pissed-off bird mascot, Canarinho.
Belgium officially became the sixth team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia after defeating Greece 2-1 Sunday on the back of this Romelu Lukaku header:
Zinedine Zidane is now as famous a manager for Real Madrid as he was a player for the club and the France National Team. He is also infamous for ending his international career with a headbutt on Italy's Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final.
It has been over a decade since that incident, but it's clear it still weighs on Zidane's mind in terms of both what it means for his legacy and the example it sets for young fans. Of course, this is to be expected when you ram your head into another man's solar plexus with a few million people watching.
I can't get this commercial out of my head. It's been around for a few years, but I hadn't seen it until last night and, well . . .
(shudders)
I will have a tough time getting over this one. THE THINGS THESE EYES HAVE SEEN.
(shudders again)
Why does Cristiano Ronaldo have a pulsating spider on his tummy?
(shudders so hard I go into convulsions)