{"id":896519,"date":"2026-04-03T08:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T13:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/03\/no-osimhen-lookman-lewandowski-rodrygo-big-stars-set-to-miss-world-cup-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T08:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T13:18:11","slug":"no-osimhen-lookman-lewandowski-rodrygo-big-stars-set-to-miss-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/03\/no-osimhen-lookman-lewandowski-rodrygo-big-stars-set-to-miss-world-cup-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"No Osimhen, Lookman, Lewandowski, Rodrygo: Big stars set to miss World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

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\"Soccer<\/p>\n

Copyright: Imago<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Some of world football\u2019s biggest names, including Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, and Robert Lewandowski, will not feature at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Soccernet.ng<\/a> reports.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Qualification heartbreaks\u2014for countries like Italy, Nigeria, and Georgia\u2014and injuries ruled out several elite stars.<\/p>\n

While the expanded tournament will welcome more teams, it will still be missing several players whose nations failed to qualify or who have been sidelined by long-term injuries.<\/p>\n

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Soccer Qualification heartbreak rules out Osimhen, Lookman, Lewandowski<\/h2>\n

Nigeria\u2019s failure to secure a ticket to the Mundial means both Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman will miss out on football\u2019s biggest stage despite their impressive club form in Europe.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Robert Lewandowski looks dejected. Copyright: x ManuelxBlondeau\/AOP.PressxImago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Similarly, Robert Lewandowski will not be present after Poland fell short in the European qualification play-offs, denying the Barcelona striker another shot at World Cup glory.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia) and Dominik Szoboszlai (Hungary) are also set to miss the tournament after their countries failed to progress from their respective qualifying campaigns.<\/p>\n

Cameroon\u2019s elimination further adds to the list, ruling out Bryan Mbeumo, while European giants Italy will again be absent, meaning Gianluigi Donnarumma will not feature at the competition.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Gianluigi Donnarumma’s Italy are set to miss out on the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Copyright: foto Daniele Buffa\/Imago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Soccer Injury blow rules out Rodrygo despite Brazil\u2019s strength<\/h2>\n

Unlike the others, Rodrygo will miss the World Cup due to injury rather than qualification failure.<\/p>\n

The Real Madrid forward suffered a serious knee injury, including an ACL tear, which has ruled him out for an extended period and ended his hopes of representing Brazil at the tournament.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Rodrygo goes of Real Madrid is injured during the La Liga 2025\/26 match between Real Madrid and Real Betis. Copyright: GuillermoxMartinezx IMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His absence is a major setback for the South American giants, who would have counted on his quality on the global stage.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"<!--Ayomide Oguntimehin” src=”https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/thumbor\/ycGEJDr9VZlpO_5zujn3ZdvICxA=\/150×150\/smart\/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.soccernet.ng%2Fmain%2F2024%2F12%2FAyomide-Oguntimehin-pics.jpg” height=”80″ width=”80″>\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tAyomide Oguntimehin\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\t\tAyomide Oguntimehin is a CAF-accredited sports journalist and Chief Editor at Soccernet.ng. He has interviewed Super Eagles stars like William Troost-Ekong, Taiwo Awoniyi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, and Ademola Lookman, and is known for breaking major transfer stories.<\/p>\n

Ayomide has worked with Sports Brief, Naija News and served as Social Lead Editor at Legit.ng. He has also featured on Goal, TVC News, Sports Mole, and Milan News24. He holds a Master\u2019s degree and is currently pursuing a PhD. Follow Ayomide on X (formerly Twitter): @ayo_oguntimehin\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Ayomide Oguntimehin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Copyright: Imago Some of world football\u2019s biggest names, including Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, and Robert Lewandowski, will not feature at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Soccernet.ng reports.\u00a0 Qualification heartbreaks\u2014for countries like Italy, Nigeria, and Georgia\u2014and injuries ruled out several elite stars. While the expanded tournament will welcome more teams, it will still be missing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":896520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121796,96184,2005],"tags":[121795,96183],"class_list":{"0":"post-896519","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-lookman","8":"category-osimhen","9":"category-soccer","10":"tag-lookman","11":"tag-osimhen"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=896519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/896519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/896520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=896519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=896519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=896519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}