WHAT IN THE WORLD

But a total of 21 key players, who have shone bright across some of the sport’s top leagues during this season and are rated at an astronomical fee, will be glaringly absent.

THE 2026 WORLD CUP will be missing a number of superstars – with the best XI worth a staggering combined total of £1billion.

The World Cup is only five weeks away from kicking off in the United States, Mexico and Canada with some of football’s biggest stars and legends set to take centre stage.

But a total of 21 key players, who have shone bright across some of the sport’s top leagues during this season and are rated at an astronomical fee, will be glaringly absent.

Findings from Sportingpedia, a site dedicated to sports news and in-depth analysis, put together a list of star players missing the World Cup based on each player’s transfer market value.

The most expensive absence will be Liverpool‘s lone star this term Dominik Szoboszlai, who won’t be able to showcase his versatility and perhaps raise his impressive £86million price tag after Hungary missed out.

Coming in at No2 is Szoboszlai’s Anfield team-mate Hugo Ekitike (£78m), who won’t be joining France in North America as he has been sidelined for the rest of the season following a heartbreaking Achilles injury.

Paris Saint-Germain megastar Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (£78m) completes the top three as he will watch the World Cup from his sofa after Georgia failed to make it past the qualifying stage.

Newcastle star Sandro Tonali is one of many Italian entrants on this list after the four-time world champions were eliminated in the play-off qualifiers by Bosnia & Herzegovina.

And Tonali, 25, won’t get to raise his whopping price tag, worth a minimum of £69m as he attracts interest from some of the Premier League’s biggest hitters.

Manchester United star Bryan Mbeumo (£69m) completes the top five after Cameroon were denied a spot in this summer’s competition.

Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen (£65m), Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni (£60m) and Man Utd’s Benjamin Sesko (£56m) follow after Nigeria, Italy and Slovenia missed out.

Tottenham’s Mohammed Kudus (£47m) was dealt with a devastating injury setback as he works back from an issue to his quad as well as hamstring and is not expected to link up with his Ghana team-mates.

And Brighton’s Carlos Baleba (£47m) will watch from home just like his Cameroon team-mate Mbeumo, 26.

Real Madrid’s Rodrygo (£43m) follows as he has been ruled out due to a torn ACL and meniscus, which means he won’t be linking up with his Brazil team-mates.

Tottenham’s Xavi Simmons (£43m) was also ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a horrendous knee injury that ended his World Cup hopes with the Netherlands.

And Man Utd’s Rasmus Hojlund (£43m), currently on loan at Napoli, won’t be in action as Denmark failed to qualify.

Italy trio Riccardo Calafiori from Arsenal as well as Nicolo Barela and Federico Dimarco from Inter will also not get to raise their £43m valuation.

Spain are confident they will have wonderkid Lamine Yamal within their ranks despite the teen being ruled out for the rest of the season due to a shock hamstring injury.

But the same doesn’t apply for Porto’s Samu Aghehowa (£39m), who won’t be following Yamal and co due to a devastating ACL injury.

Inter’s Pio Esposito (Italy), Sporting Lisbon’s Morten Hjulmand (Denmark), PSG’s Ilya Zabarnyi (Ukraine) and Manchester City‘s Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy) – all worth £39m – complete the list -Sun.