K minus 26 days - Unqualified Stars

Qualifiers are one of the cruelest stages of football not just for the teams facing them but also to the players who have to absorb the grueling phase into their already bustling schedule, to the clubs who might miss those special players, who often return with an injury, from their crux matches

Qualifiers leave agony to the teams who fail to make it, even the teams ending up qualifying fall back into a retrospection mode at some point of the timeline. Managers get sacked, icons would end up reeling but some shine through them, like Messi and Ronaldo this time around

Messi had his most successful campaign for Argentina while Cristiano Ronaldo had to summon his other-worldly powers to oust Sweden, the Sweden which has its Zlatan and Zlatan Ibrahimovich is not going to the World Cup, Lewandowsky won't be playing either as is Bale

Some of the most remarkable World Cup misses involve both England, France and Yugoslavia failing to make it for 1994 edition, England missing out earlier in 1974 either. Netherlands in 1986 and 2002, Scotland many times but astonishingly in 1970, and Italy in 1958

Here is the 30-man talented Unqualified All-Stars Squad that misses the World Cup, but can upset some of the big guns if given a chance

*Only the players who are bound to miss the cup owing to their team not qualifying are included