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The FIFA World Cup is the biggest football carnival. The 32 best countries from around the world make the journey to battle it out to be the best national team in football. It's every young football player's ambition to wear his country's jersey and sing the national anthem proudly and take the field to represent the country.
Sadly, not everyone gets to play in the competition because of injuries. Missing the World Cup due to an injury is a bitter pill to swallow and nobody knows it better than Marco Reus, who missed out on lifting the World Cup 2014 with the victorious German side.
In this article, we take a look at an eleven-man side comprising of players who will be missing this year's FIFA World Cup in Russia due to injuries:
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Goalkeeper
Sergio Romero (Argentina)
Sergio Romero has had a stop-start club career over the past five years as he has remained a second-choice keeper. At AS Monaco, he was the second-choice keeper behind Danijel Subasic and at Manchester United, David De Gea's presence has seen him rooted to the bench.
Despite the uncertainties at the club level, Romero has remained the first-choice keeper for Argentina for the past decade.
The 31-year old has made 94 appearances for La Albiceleste and was one of their heroes at the previous World Cup. After three consecutive heart-breaking losses in the finals of major tournaments, the Argentine will suffer more heartache as he has been ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury.
It's a massive blow for Argentina, who don't have a recognized backup keeper - something that could come to haunt them over the next couple of months.
Defence
Laurent Koscielny (France) - Centre-back
Laurent Koscielny was expected to be France's first-choice centre-back alongside Samuel Umtiti in Russia. He would have provided the experience and composure at the back to a team bubbling with attacking talent.
The Frenchman, who was hoping to retire at the end of a successful World Cup campaign will, unfortunately, see an early end to his international dreams. The Arsenal skipper was enduring a disappointing campaign at the club level and his season was sadly ended in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League semi-final against Atletico Madrid.
The 32-year old suffered a serious Achilles tendon tear that will keep him out for six months. The Arsenal man fell to the turf visibly devastated and his career might now be in the doldrums as it will be a long way back from an extremely threatening injury.
Matija Nastastic (Serbia) - Centre-back
When Matija Nastasic began his Manchester City career in 2012-13, he quickly established himself as a fan-favourite and he also seemed to be destined to reach great heights. However, his career hasn't quite blossomed in the way he would have expected. After he was frozen out at the Etihad, the Serbian moved to Schalke in search of more playing time.
But, his time at Schalke hasn't been too kind on him either as he has suffered a spate of injuries that has seen him go in and out of the team. Despite this, he has remained a regular starter while donning his national colours and was expected to be the key man in the centre of the Serbian defence.
The Serbian defence, which includes Branislav Ivanovic and Alexander Kolarov, two men on the wrong side of their 30s, needed a youthful but experienced head in the middle. But Nastasic sadly suffered a serious long-term knee injury in a Bundesliga clash in early April.
The initial diagnosis said that he would be ruled out for three months. But sadly, he hasn't won the battle and the injury will see him miss out on the World Cup this summer.
Dani Alves (Brazil) - Right-back
Daniel Alves is one of the most decorated footballers on the planet, having picked up a massive haul of trophies with Sevilla, Barcelona, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, and he would have loved to cap off a memorable career with a World Cup winners medal.
Dani Alves, who still remains one of the best right-backs in the world, was expected to start in the same position for Brazil and provide them with the width and energy from the right-side of the pitch.
His passing and crossing from the right make him an exciting attacking option when required, just like his counterpart on the left side - Marcelo. However, life doesn't always provide fairytale endings and sadly that is the case with Alves too.
The marauding right-back picked up a knee injury during the Coupe de France final and will spend the summer recovering from the injury, rather than leading his side to World Cup glory. The 35-year old's place in the XI is likely to be taken by Manchester City's Danilo.
Joe Gomez (England) - Left-back
Joe Gomez was signed by Liverpool in 2015 and immediately broke into Brendan Rodgers' squad before sustaining a long-term ACL injury. The young defender returned this season and he took advantage of preferred right-back Nathaniel Clyne's injury absence by cementing his place in the eleven, despite heavy competition from Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The versatile English defender has the ability to play across the back-line. Though he's predominantly played at right-back this season, experts feel his best position lies in the centre of the defence.
Gomez made his debut for England in a Man-of-the-match display against Brazil in an international friendly shut down Neymar on the wing. A strong and clever player, the 21-year-old was in contention for a place in England's World Cup squad before a devastating long-term ankle injury ruled him out of the tournament.
Midfield
Danilo Pereira (Portugal)- Holding midfielder
Danilo Pereira has been a regular starter at his club side Porto and was all set to be named in Fernando Santos' 23-man squad for the World Cup. The holding midfielder along with William Carvalho provides physicality and steel to the Portugal midfield. However, the 26-year old suffered a horrible long-term injury in mid-January and he will sadly miss the World Cup due to the Achilles tendon injury. suffered at the start of the year.
Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain- Right Winger
Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain moved to Liverpool at the start of the season in search of more playing time and also to get more time in his favored position. The move across to Merseyside has worked wonders for the Englishman as he had a directness, goals and assists to his game which seemed to lack direction under Arsenal Wenger at Arsenal.
An extremely impressive first season at Anfield domestically and in Europe made him one of the English players to watch out for in Russia. He would have lined up in the centre of the midfield and he would have provided dynamism and direct running at the defenders from the centre of the pitch. However, the 24-year old suffered a heart-breaking knee injury in the Champions League semifinals against Roma in April. The injury ruled the Ox out of the World Cup, and is likely to sideline until November at least. It will be extremely difficult for the versatile midfielder to shake off this devastating injury.
Dimitri Payet (France)- Central Attacking Midfielder
Dimitri Payet had a memorable Euro 2016 in which he was one of France's best players in their run to the final. However, he's unfortunately going to be watching the World Cup in Russia from the sidelines after picking up a hamstring injury in the Europa League final against Atletico Madrid.
The attacking midfielder had forced his way into contention with his star performances for his club, where he played a key role in Marseille’s season with 10 goals and 20 assists. Payet might have been the man to play the number 10 role in Deschamps' side, providing the ammunition for the likes of Mbappe, Griezmann and the other attacking talents. The 31-year old limped off in tears in the first half of the Europa League final knowing that his hopes of making it to the World Cup had gone to flames.
Serge Gnabry (Germany)- Left Winger
Serge Gnabry has been one of Germany's brightest young talents all through his rise in the youth levels. The former Arsenal winger was frozen out of action in England and sought a move back to Bundesliga in search of more game time. The move paid dividends for the young man as his impressive performances earned him a national call-up.
In just his second appearance, the German winger scored a sensational hat-trick in a World Cup qualifier match against San Marino.
The 22-year old was not confirmed of a spot in Joachim Low's 23-man squad, but his consistent performances made him one of the bright young Germans to keep an eye out on. However, a groin injury suffered in end of April put to rest any hopes the young man might have had on travelling to Russia with the squad.
Attackers
Lars Stindl (Germany)- Second Striker
Lars Stindl is a player who has blossomed quite late in his football career. A move to Borussia Monchengladbach at the age of 27 has proved to be the turning point in his career. Impressive performances at the club level earned him a call-up to the talented German squad in 2017 when he was 28.
He was called up for the Confederations Cup in which the Germans rested most of their first-choice players. Stindl was one of the best players in the tournament and he ended up with the Silver Boot for scoring 3 goals in the tournament, including the lone goal in the final against Chile.
Despite not being a regular figure in the German attack, the Monchengladbach captain was summoned in the team's past friendlies against Spain and Brazil after impressive performances in the club and international level. The 29-year's impressive showings would have earned him a ticket to Russia but a ruptured ligament forces the German to miss out on the World Cup, as he will have to undergo surgery.
Alexander Kokorin (Russia)- Striker
Alexander Kokorin is one of Russia's better strikers. The 27-year old is the highest goal scorer in Russia's young squad and the Zenit striker would have provided invaluable experience to a team devoid of big-game players. However, the World Cup hosts were dealt a major blow to their hopes when their star striker was ruled out from the World Cup.
In mid-March, he suffered a devastating ACL tear in a Europa League fixture against RB Leipzig and will the long-term injury meant that the Zenit striker would miss the World Cup in Russia.
