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Midfielders
Centre Midfield: Arturo Vidal (Chile)
Having won the previous two Copa Americas by beating Argentina in penalty shootouts in 2015 and 2016, Chile were regarded as the best team in South America. However, Chile have stunningly missed out on World Cup qualification after just missing out on the CONMEBOL play-off spot to Peru.
It's a massive blow for the golden generation of Chile football, as most of them are in the peak phase of their career. Having made it to the knockout phases of the World Cup in 2010 and 2014, they were knocked out by Brazil on both occasions in the Round of 16.
With their dominance in South America however, they would have been expected to go better this time out, but Chile will have to make do with the players watching the other 32 teams battling it out in Russia.
At the age of 30, it’s a massive blow for Arturo Vidal. Vidal is currently playing the best football of his career with Bayern Munich, and he would have been hoping to play a pivotal role to continue his title-winning spree from his clubs Juventus and Bayern Munich and Chile in the continental stage. He'll be 34 the next time the World Cup comes around, and it might be too late then to make a genuine attempt at a World Cup title win.
Centre Midfield: Marco Verratti (Italy)
Marco Verratti, who is considered to be one of Italy's shining lights in an uninspiring midfield will miss his second international tournament after missing Euro 2016 due to a groin injury. Sweden shocked Italy in the World Cup playoffs and with it dashed their hopes of making it to the World Cup in Russia.
Verratti, who is extremely skilled at controlling the tempo of the game is one of the stars in Paris Saint-Germain squad and is rumourede to be wanted by massive clubs like Barcelona. The 23-year-old who is considered as Andrea Pirlo's successor will miss yet another chance to showcase his talents in front of the global audience after he only played a sparing role in their 2014 World Cup failure.
Verratti will be hoping Italy can sort its problems out to get back into Euro 2020.
Other Centre Midfielders missing out: Marek Hamsik (Slovakia), Miralem Pjanic (Boznia- Herzegovina), Danielle de Rossi (Italy), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands), Aaron Ramsey (Wales), Naby Keita (Guinea), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast)
Left Winger: Gareth Bale (Wales)
Wales, who made it to the Euro 2016, their first global tournament since the 1958 World Cup, were the surprise packages in the tournament. A Gareth-Bale inspired Wales went all the way till the semifinals, beating Belgium en-route but lost to eventual champions Portugal.
Expectations would have been that Wales would make it to the World Cup in a group that didn't consist of any of the traditional heavyweights. However, Wales surprisingly missed out on a spot in Russia after Serbia finished first to take the automatic qualification while Ireland beat them in the final game to take the playoff spot.
Bale's absence hurt Wales badly and the Real Madrid man will thus miss out on the tournament and watch from the sidelines as his teammates from his club look to bring home the title.
Other Left Wingers missing out: Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Wilfried Zaha (Ivory Coast)
Right Winger: Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
A veteran of three World Cups, Arjen Robben announced his retirement from international football shortly after scoring twice against Sweden in the final match of Netherlands' unsuccessful qualification campaign.
Having played an inspirational role in Netherlands' successful World Cup campaigns in 2010 and 2014 when they finished runners-up and third respectively, the Dutch maestro was unable to pull his team through to this edition in Russia.
Robben fluffed massive chances to win the title on that night in Johannesburg in 2010 and that will rank as a massive regret in his distinguished career. The 34-year old is in the final phase of his professional career and we'll have to make do with enjoying the trickery he still manages to come up with for Bayern Munich until it's too late.
Other Right Wingers missing out: Chrisitan Pulisic (United States), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Armenia)
