From Salah to Ibrahimovic: Stars to miss out on the World Cup - 25 Italians among most valuable

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Twenty-seven of 32 World Cup tickets have been handed out, and two more will follow Thursday night from Concacaf. The United States and Mexico are three points ahead of Costa Rica and are all but mathematically qualified for the World Cup in Qatar. As a result, no more players will be among the most valuable added to the stars missing out on the tournament this winter. That is in big contrast to last night when Egypt with star Mohamed Salah lost the decisive game in World Cup qualifying. 

The 30-year-old Liverpool forward was the tragic hero as he missed the decisive penalty in what was a re-match of the Africa Cup final against Senegal. Blinded by countless laser pointers, Salah put his penalty over the crossbar. With a market value of €100 million, Salah is the second most valuable player on the planet to miss out on qualifying for the World Cup. The only player with a higher market value not to travel to the World Cup is the second most valuable player on the planet: Erling Haaland (€150m). The Borussia Dortmund striker could not get past the group stage with Norway. The Scandinavian country finished third behind the Netherlands and now also eliminated Turkey. 

The country with the most players with a market value of €20 million or more not to qualify is European champion Italy. The Squadra Azzurra has 25 players available with a €20 million-plus market value. Nonetheless, underdog, North Macedonia was able to eliminate Italy in the playoffs, which is why Gianluigi Donnarumma, Jorginho, and Co. could not qualify for the second time in a row. 

Like Salah's Egypt, Sweden were also eliminated on Tuesday after losing 2-0 to Poland in the World Cup qualification playoff finals. As a result, Zlatan Ibrahimovic continues to await his first-ever World Cup goal. "I will continue as long as I can," Ibrahimovic said after the lost final. "You will not get a different answer only because we lost this game and we are not going to the World Cup." Ibrahimovic will be 44 when the World Cup is headed to North America in 2026. Ibrahimovic is not among the most valuable players to miss out, but his fantastic statistics and star power are reason enough to mention the Swedish forward.