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It is the dream of many footballers to represent their country. This dream is made even sweeter when they get to do so at the biggest showpiece in world football; the FIFA World Cup. In Russia, most of the players will get an opportunity to showcase their talent in the quest to achieve victory.
In the past, the dream of playing at the World Cup has been cut short for some due to an untimely injury just before the competition or failing to recover in time for the tournament. Top stars like Radamel Falcao (2014) and David Beckham (2010) are some notable players who could not shrug off nagging injuries and were subsequently omitted from their respective squads.
While some bask in the proud moment, there are those who will not make the trip to Russia due to injury or outright stiff competition for the limited squad slots. Some of these players are exceptional in their own right but quite simply did not make the cut.
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#5 Radja Nainggolan
In the 2017-18 season, he scored six goals in 40 appearances across all competitions and was instrumental in Roma's historic elimination of Barcelona en-route to reaching the Champions League semi-finals. Roma also finished third in the league to qualify for next season's Champions League.
For the second time in under a year, he announced his retirement after not being selected by Martinez. The dynamic Roma midfielder was the shock omission when Belgium coach Roberto Martinez announced his preliminary 28-man squad on May 21, 2018. According to Martinez, Nainggolan was left out for tactical reasons despite a superb season with his club.
#4 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Oxlade-Chamberlain was ruled out of the World Cup after suffering a knee ligament injury on April 25, 2018. This was in Liverpool's Champions League semi-final first leg against Roma. In the 18th minute of that match, he got off worse after a strong challenge on Aleksandar Kolarov.
This brought a premature end to his season that was brilliant up to that point. He scored a vicious 20-yard piledriver as Liverpool went 2-0 up against Manchester City in their Champions League quarter-final first leg.
He was playing regularly and well for a top team which is the type of parameters that England manager Gareth Southgate was looking for in his squad selection. Since his 2012 debut for the national team, he has scored six goals in 32 appearances.
#3 Dani Alves
Brazil's first choice right-back was ruled out of the tournament barely a month to its commencement. Alves damaged his cruciate ligament during Paris Saint-Germain's French Cup final against Les Herbiers. PSG won that match 2-0 and initial assessment showed that he would recover in three weeks time.
However, PSG's medical team declared two days later that Alves would not recover in time for the World Cup. This update left Brazil coach Tite with no choice but to leave out the defender who has served his country for 12 years and made over 100 appearances. Alves scored four goals and provided seven assists this past season for PSG.
He alongside Marcelo have built a formidable partnership as Brazilian full backs for the last couple of years. Alves has built a reputation as a classy defender who loves to go forward and create goal-scoring chances. He will be a big miss for the national team as his replacement Danilo does not possess his qualities as a player.
#2 Leroy Sane
What more could Sane have done to make the German squad? Probably nothing as Germany is filled with so many talented players. Sane was a victim of too much competition for places in the side.
The 22-year-old forward impressed for Manchester City in the 2017-2018 season. He scored 14 goals and set up 17 assists in all competitions and even named PFA Young Player of the Year which was not enough to earn him a place in the final 23-man squad.
This was the kind of breakthrough season which would impress any national team manager. Sane played almost all the matches when fit, created chances for his teammates and won trophies. He was instrumental in City's record-breaking season that they won the league and Carabao Cup.
German boss Joachim Low said it was the friendly match against Austria that dropped Sane down the pecking order in favour of Julian Brandt. On paper, he looked like the obvious candidate to even start on either side of the wings for the world champions but Low decided otherwise as he named his squad on Monday.
#1 Sergio Romero
The Manchester United goalkeeper was already named in the initial squad to Russia by head coach Jorge Sampaoli. However, Romero was ruled out the following evening due to a knee injury. This was a big blow to the national team because Romero was undoubtedly their first choice goalkeeper.
Since his move to Manchester United in 2015, he has deputised David De Gea and used more during cup matches. He has a good record in the matches that he has played for United. In the 2017-18 season, Romero kept clean sheets in all the four FA Cup matches he played in. Overall, he had six clean sheets in 10 matches.
Romero holds the record for being the most capped Argentine goalkeeper with 94 caps and has represented Argentina in two World Cups. He played in all of Argentina's 18 World Cup qualifiers, managing eight clean sheets. Veteran Willy Caballero is likely to replace Romero as a starter in Russia.
