CLUB WORLD CUP
Lamine Yamal leads the list of major absentees from the Club World Cup
Published:12/06/2025 - 02:49h
Updated:12/06/2025 - 08:45h
The Club World Cup starts this Saturday with a notable list of absentees. Lamine Yamal and Cristiano Ronaldo, protagonists of the Nations League final, lead the casualties of the FIFA tournament
FIFA begins this Saturday, June 14, its first edition of the Club World Cup with 32 teams. Emulating the format that the World Cup implemented from 1998 to 2022, the tournament unfortunately will not have all the stars of the moment due to its complex classification system.
Not in vain, three of the current champions of the five major leagues in Europe, FC Barcelona, Liverpool and Napoli, will not be in the competition. In the Blaugrana team, Lamine Yamal, by far the best footballer in the world at the moment, leads the list of major absentees in the World Cup.
Lamine Yamal and the Barça 'cracks', main absentees
The Blaugrana '19' completed a spectacular end to the season with Barça, scoring in three of the last four matchdays of LaLiga, in addition to adding a couple of assists in the Copa del Rey final and another great goal in the 'semis' of Champions against Inter Milan.
Along with Lamine, the pleiad of figures from the team led by Hansi Flick will also be absent, including Raphinha, Pedri, Robert Lewandowski, Dani Olmo, Jules Koundé and Pau Cubarsí. Barça was the highest scoring team in Europe (157 goals in 60 games in all competitions the previous season) and, without a doubt, would have arrived as a favorite in the United States to lift the trophy.
Mohamed Salah leads the list of absentees in the Premier League
Along with Barça, the other great absentee from the FIFA tournament will be Liverpool. The current English champion failed to qualify after losing the Champions League final in 2022 against Real Madrid. In a squad full of figures, Mohamed Salah and Luis Díaz will be the ones who shine the most for their absence in the monarch of the Premier League.
The Egyptian completed a great season at the domestic level, with 34 goals and 23 assists in 57 games. Records that, along with Raphinha, keep him in the top 10 of aspirants for the Ballon d'Or 2025. In the case of 'Lucho', the Colombian will have vacations while he tries to close his signing for Barça and after shining with his national team.
Other figures of English football will also be absent, such as Alexander Isak (Newcastle), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) or Bukayo Saka (Arsenal). The figures of Manchester City will be available, led by Erling Haaland, one of the great favorites to win the tournament, as well as the new 'crack' of Chelsea, Cole Palmer, brand new champion of the Conference League.
Cristiano Ronaldo, out of his first major continental tournament
The other great star who will shine for his absence is Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese won the Nations League with Portugal, but could not qualify for the World Cup with the Saudi Al Nassr. Although he arrived with the hope of winning everything with the yellow team, since January 2023 he has not been able to celebrate any title in Arab football.
'CR7' was rumored as a reinforcement for several participants in the continental tournament, including River Plate and Boca Juniors of Argentina and Real Madrid itself. However, his huge salary closed the door to any transfer to play the tournament. Since 2004, Cristiano has always played in the main international FIFA and UEFA tournaments at club and national team level.
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