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Five of the stars missing from FIFA's new showpiece tournament

China Daily | Updated: 2025-06-13 00:00
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FIFA's inaugural expanded Club World Cup in the United States offers one billion dollars of prize money, but will be missing some of the game's star names.

Here are five players who will not be lighting up stadiums across the United States once the tournament gets underway on the weekend:

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)

Liverpool finished as English champion, but like Spain's Barcelona and Italy's Napoli, will not be at the Club World Cup, because of the convoluted qualification process.

That means Egyptian winger Salah, who broke the Premier League record for goal involvements, with 29 strikes and 18 assists, misses out.

After a tiring season, in which he faded in the latter months, Salah might not be too upset about having a summer off. The winger posted a photo of himself sunbathing by the beach on Instagram.

However, it will be a shame that African football icon Salah, Reds captain Virgil van Dijk and others miss out on the chance of a potential rematch against their Champions League conquerors Paris Saint-Germain. Liverpool transfer target Florian Wirtz will also be absent, as his side Bayer Leverkusen did not qualify either.

Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)

No player in world soccer this season has offered more excitement than Barcelona's 17-year-old star Lamine Yamal.

The Spain winger has been in sensational form for his club this season and is one of the candidates to win the Ballon d'Or.

Yamal's thrilling dribbling and penchant for the spectacular make him one of the biggest draws in world soccer at the moment.

He is often compared to former Barcelona great Lionel Messi, but because of the Spanish champion's absence, may have missed out on his only chance to face the Argentina star, who will be there with Inter Miami.

Barcelona's Raphinha, midfield maestro Pedri and veteran striker Robert Lewandowski are others who will be missed.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr)

Messi's long-time rival Ronaldo will also be absent this summer.

The Portuguese striker, 40, was reported to be looking for a way to play in the tournament.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino had suggested Ronaldo might move from Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr to a team who had reached the event, saying that "discussions" were being held over it.

Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo, who won the Nations League with Portugal last weekend, indicated after the game, however, he was set to stay at Al Nassr.

"Some teams reached out to me," the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star revealed on Saturday, on the eve of the Nations League final. "Some made sense, and others did not, but you can't try and do everything. You can't catch every ball."

Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

Champions League semifinalist Arsenal is another team to miss out and after finishing the season trophyless, the Club World Cup would have been a chance to win some silverware.

England international Saka's only club trophy, excluding the FA Community Shield, was an FA Cup win with Arsenal in 2020.

Mikel Arteta's side showed this season that it has improved to the point where it is in contention for major honors, including knocking out Real Madrid in the Champions League, but came up just short.

For a player of Saka's quality, who has spent six seasons playing regularly at the top level, he could do with expanding his medal collection.

Arsenal will be disappointed to miss out on the prize money too, as it tries to overhaul Liverpool and Manchester City, which have dominated the English game in recent seasons.

Neymar (Santos)

Brazilian icon Neymar struggled with injury at Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia and returned to boyhood club Santos in January, hoping to get fit and firing ahead of next summer's World Cup.

The 33-year-old forward, despite fading with age, is still one of the biggest names in the game and his absence is also a blow in a commercial sense.

"Neymar, what can I say about him? He's an outstanding player, who, for me, in my football cycle, is in the top three, with Cristiano and Messi," said Brazil midfielder Casemiro.

With organizers struggling to sell tickets, Neymar's presence would have been a boon.

AFP

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