Lewandowski misses out on World Cup - who else won't be there?

Who is a certain starter at the World Cup? How England's players rated Serhou Guirassy is fourth in the list of Bundesliga top scorers this season Serhou Guirassy has established himself as one of Europe's most prolific strikers in world football, with 62 goals in the German Bundesliga over the past three seasons, while no player scored more than his 13 goals in the Champions League in 2024-25. But he will not be at the World Cup as his country Guinea went out in the first round of African qualifying, finishing fourth in their group, with only four wins and three draws from their 10 matches.

Georgia only won one of their six qualifying matches - 3-0 at home against Bulgaria Khvicha Kvaratskhelia helped Paris St-Germain become European champions last season, scoring in the 5-0 final win over Inter Milan, and he came 12th in the 2025 Ballon d'Or awards. But Georgia had a miserable campaign in World Cup qualifying as they only picked up three points from a group that contained Spain, Turkey and Bulgaria. Robert Lewandowski will be 41 when the 2030 World Cup takes place Lewandowski captained Poland at the World Cup in 2018, but did not score in Russia as his country came bottom of the group.

He had a better tournament four years later in Qatar, scoring twice as Poland reached the last 16 before losing to France. He netted four times in Group G in 2026 qualifying only for Poland to finish three points behind the Netherlands, before losing to Sweden on Tuesday. Victor Osimhen has scored 26 goals for club and country this season Victor Osimhen helped Napoli win Serie A in 2023 before moving to Galatasaray, where he grabbed 26 goals in 30 games to take them to the Turkish title last season.

Nigeria drew five of their 10 matches in the first group phase as they finished one point behind winners South Africa, but then had a second chance in the following play-off. With Osimhen already substituted, Nigeria lost on penalties to DR Congo to miss out on the World Cup. Dominik Szoboszlai has scored 12 goals for Liverpool this season Liverpool and Hungary midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has impressed this season and scored some stunning long-range goals.