FIFA World Cup 2018: 5 big-name footballers that could disappoint 

Just three more days to go. Three. After that, the world will slow down – or, shall I say, the timing of the world will become different for one month. Why? Because of the FIFA WC 2018.

It is the tournament that features some of the best players in the world fighting for a trophy they want the most. Playing in the grandest stage of them all, in itself, is a dream for many.

There is not a single footballer in the world that can claim to not ever dream about winning the World Cup. Not one single player. It is an accolade that every player wants to associate himself to.

Regardless of how many trophies an individual has won, lacking the World Cup in the cabinet is like a black mark – a sort of void that can never truly be replaced by anything.

It is for this reason that players like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo openly admit to giving away every title that they won in exchange for the World Cup. These two will be giving it their all in order to win the biggest tournament in the world – and have a shot at winning the Golden Ball as well.

There are some big names, however, who are most likely to not have as good a tournament like they usually do with their respective clubs. And here are 5 players who could flop in Russia...

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#5 Paul Pogba

The fact that Manchester United still need to sign players to ‘unlock’ the former Juventus star speaks volume about the erratic nature of his career after joining the Red Devils.

Brought for a then world record fee of £89 million, Pogba hasn’t truly been able to scale the heights that he did during his time in Turin. There have also been reports of problems between him and manager Jose Mourinho, further revealing his inconsistency at the club.

For France, he remains their best midfielder after the tenacious N’Golo Kante. The Chelsea man takes the defensive burden with Pogba being the creative box-to-box hub for France.

His inconsistency this season at the Old Trafford means that he is susceptible to having a poor time in Russia, which is why he finds himself on this list.

#4 Mario Mandzukic

Croatia's scorer

For starters, he is 32-years-old and is not a goal-scorer anymore, which is precisely why he plays on the left as an auxiliary forward and the first line of defense. In this role, he is magnificent; of this, there is no doubt.

For Croatia, however, he is the central striker and his role at Juventus is played by Ivan Perisic in the national team.

As a result, the bulk of the scoring duties will be on his shoulder, but the truth is that he is not as great a scorer as he once was. Ever since joining Juventus, the highest number of goals he has scored in a season is 13.

This season, he scored 10 goals from 38 matches and played more of a support role for the other forwards.

And that doesn’t bode well for him in Russia.

#3 Dele Alli

A difficult player to assess

This is a controversial selection but logical nonetheless. It is difficult to point out where Dele Alli stands out. He is not a visionary who can open up defences with a single pass neither is he a mazy dribbler that can carry the ball towards the goal with a dance of his feet.

He is, however, a good scorer as he has a great off-the-ball awareness when it comes to attacking and often finds himself at the right place at the right time.

This is why he scored 22 goals for Spurs in 50 matches during the 2016-17 season. This season, however, the number dropped to 14 while playing the same quantity of games.

When a match is ongoing, it feels like he doesn’t do much at all to warrant a place in the team but then comes up to do something at a crucial juncture of the game.

That, however, might not be enough to save him from the blushes in Russia.

#2 Gonzalo Higuain

Argentina Team Arrives in Moscow

Ah, Pipita. The former Real Madrid striker is still fondly remembered by Madridistas as someone who scored crucial goals for them during his time at the Bernabeu. For the rest of the world, however, he is a choker who cost Argentina and Lionel Messi a World Cup.

And now, he is in the squad and rest assured, he WILL score quite a few goals throughout the group and knockout stages.

However, against a better team and in a match of the highest magnitude – when the pressure is ready to blow off the ceiling – one can always expect him to miss a straightforward chance like he did against Germany in the final of the last World Cup.

And that alone could brand him as a flop for Argentina on the biggest stage of them all.

#1 Mohamad Salah

Egypt's hopes

Right now, I know that most people are readying up their keyboards to send death threats to me. But bear with me for a moment. Mohamad Salah is a superb player – perhaps the best player in Europe on current form – who can score goals out of nowhere.

He is so good that managers of the opposition team make specific plans just for the Roma star. When he runs after the ball, it feels like a cheetah is racing towards its prey and will do anything to feast on it.

However, the truth is that Salah and Egypt only just qualified after a stoppage-time penalty saved them against Congo in the qualifiers. It shows that no matter how good Salah is, he alone can’t lift the team to victory.

The Egyptian scored 44 goals this season and got a lot of help from his teammates while doing so, but it is unlikely that he will get that from his international team-mates.

And that could lead to a poor tournament – by his VERY high standards – for him.

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