FIFA World Cup 2018: Five superstars who will miss the tournament
The 2018 Football World Cup is around the corner with around a week left before footballing nations from around the world congregate in Russia to kick off the twenty-first International Football World Cup. Thirty-two teams have qualified to take part in the tournament, which begins on the 14th of June and ends on the 15th of July.
The teams have been selected and announced, and the coming week will be dedicated to making sure the players remain healthy. There are a few players, however, who will not be able to make it to this edition of the Football World Cup and will be missing out on the competition. Several high profile teams have failed to qualify and will consequently be missing out on the proceedings with their players unable to compete. Other players on teams who have qualified may also miss out due to injury or personal differences with the coach of their national teams.
In this list, we will talk about five players who are set to miss out on the 2018 FIFA World Cup taking place in Russia.
#5 Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema has reason to be happy, having scored one of the three goals which saw his Real Madrid side win their third consecutive Champions League Title.
Unfortunately for the French International, his hopes of playing in the 2018 World Cup look dim. The differences in opinion with French Head Coach Didier Deschamps has seen Benzema miss out on International games.
France came close to winning the World Cup in 2006, to add to their single World Cup win, but an infamous headbutt by Zidane led to heartbreak for the French team. They are looking to rectify the situation this year with a talented team, which have some big names missing from it.
Alongside Benzema, Anthony Martial and Alexander Lacazette did not make the final cut either. Koscielny's injury in the Europa League semi-final means that the defender's chances to appear in the World Cup are practically nil.
Earlier Benzema confessed that after two and a half years away from the International side, he was convinced there was no way he would play for as long as Deschamps was the head coach.
He missed out on Euro 2016 as well, and now it appears the 2018 World Cup will be another opportunity missed for the 30-year-old.