Every four years that the World Cup happens, national teams only get to take 23 players. Because of this stringent rule, many of the good players get removed to the team.
This often creates a lot of noise to the media and leads to controversy. There are several reasons why a player can be cast out.
It can be because of an injury or they're simply out of favor. Here is the list of some of the players that will not be included in this year's FIFA World Cup
Alvaro Morata, Spain
Morata is a professional 25-year-old soccer player who plays for the Spain national team and a striker for Chelsea. He earned 50 caps for Spain at youth level. He represented the nation at Euro 2016. The reason why he's missing for this year's World Cup is that Alvaro Morata's form slipped this year.
According to Julen Lopetegui, Spain Manager,
“Including four players up front was not something we wanted to do, we have opted for three other players who had different assets.”
Morata was very professional about it and he tweeted.
"A lot of luck in the World Cup. From now on I will be supporting and encouraging until the end as always.”
Diego Costa, who is a former Chelsea striker will take his place.
Radja Nainggolan, Belgium
He is a Belgian soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Italian Club Roma. Nainggolan played 30 times for his country, scoring six goals. He also represented Belgium at Euro 2016.
Nainggolan stated that he was retiring from any international soccer games after being snubbed by Roberto Martinez, Belgium's national team coach. He wrote an Instagram post saying:
"Very reluctantly my international career comes to an end, I've always done everything I could to represent my country. Being yourself can be bothering. From this day on I will be the first fan."
While on Martinez's side, he mentions this in a press conference.
"It's a tactical reason, Over the last two years, we have worked in a very attacking way, a very specific system and manner, and other players had those roles. Radja has a very important role in his club, and I don't feel we can give him that in the national team. He's not a player to be used in a small role."
Youri Tielemans of Monaco and Axel Witsel of Tianjin Quanjian are the two athletes to take the role of Nainggolan.
Anthony Martial, France
Anthony Martial plays as a forward for Manchester United and the France national team. He once received the 2015 Golden Boy Award for the best under-21 player in Europe. He slipped out of the pecking order at United as Alexis Sánchez was signed. Antoine Griezmann is said to be the one to play his role in the World Cup.
Renato Sanches, Portugal
Renato Sanches is a young midfielder who plays for Portugal national team. He won 40 caps and scored 8 goals for Portugal at youth level and won The Young Player of the Tournament. The reason why he is missing out this year is that his performance in the past seasons has not been well. The mistake he did in passing to ball directly to an advertising board gained a lot of attention.
“It hurts not to be able to include all the players who were with us in the European Championship,” Fernando Santos, the Portugal Manager said. “All of them helped us write a brilliant page in the history of Portuguese football.”
Bruno Fernandes and William Carvalho of Sporting Lisbon and Joao Moutinho of Monaco can be a potential replacement for this year's World Cup.
Joe Hart, England
Charles Joseph John Hart plays as a goalkeeper for the Manchester City and the English national team. He holds the joint record for the most Premier League Golden Glove awards and has amassed 75 international caps since his debut in 2008.
He has always been the first choice but this year he's not a part of the squad. That's because Hart lost his job at City and was loaned to West Ham so he was benched at the end of the season.
According to Hart, “Not going to lie, I’m gutted,” Hart said on Instagram. “I know what I bring to the team, but it is what it is.”
Jack Butland of Stoke and Jordan Pickford of Everton are the possible players to take Hart's role.
