The road to the 2026 World Cup reaches a brutal end on Tuesday with the Uefa qualification playoff finals.
Eight teams will battle it out for four places at this summer’s tournament, with ecstasy and heartbreak guaranteed in equal measure.
Italy are once again the big name in the mix, and should they lose to Bosnia and Herzegovina, they will miss out on an unthinkable third straight World Cup. The likes of Poland and Robert Lewandowski, Sweden and Viktor Gyokeres, and Turkey and Arda Guler are also going to do their level best to get over the line.
Those are some huge names we’ve thrown out there, and with that in mind, we’ve picked a combined XI of players from these Uefa playoffs to illustrate the calibre of talent that could miss out on this summer’s World Cup.
GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy)
Gianluigi Donnarumma has scaled some of the greatest heights in football over the last five or six years. The giant goalkeeper has won the European Championships with Italy, the treble with PSG — among a host of other honours — and earned a big Premier League move with Manchester City, who are still chasing Arsenal for the title.
And yet, he’s somehow never played in a World Cup, with Italy missing out on the 2018 and 2022 tournaments. Surely that cannot go on for a third tournament? Never has such a giant footballing nation struggled so badly. Italy are going to need Donnarumma against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
RB: Matty Cash (Poland)
Matty Cash is enjoying a strong season with Aston Villa, registering three goals and three assists across all competitions, while he’s first among his teammates in the Premier League for tackles (51), and second for clearances (75).
Cash is an underrated powerhouse of a two-way right-back, and yet, he will not be heading to North America this summer if Poland lose to Sweden on Tuesday.
CB: Alessandro Bastoni (Italy)
Alessandro Bastoni continues to be a monumental figure for Inter Milan. The giant centre-back has three goals and six assists to his name across all competitions this season. More importantly, though, he’s in Inter’s top three performers in Serie A this season for tackles (2nd), interceptions (3rd), clearances (2nd) and aerial duels won (2nd) — as well as passes completed (2nd).
It’s hard to see even the vastly experienced Edin Dzeko getting the better of Bastoni in this playoff, but it could spell disaster for Italy if he does.
CB: Riccardo Calafiori (Italy)
Riccardo Calafiori has played more as a left-back for Arsenal, but for Italy, he takes up the left space in a three-man centre-back line-up.
Calafiori is a powerful runner, tough tackler and dangerous in the opposition box with his aerial ability. He’s become so used to the big stage with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, that it would be strange to see him not turn up at the World Cup.
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LB: Ferdi Kadioglu (Turkey)
Ferdi Kadioglu isn’t getting the goals or assists for Brighton that he was known for at Fenerbahce and NEC Nijmegen, but he is providing a rock-solid defensive option down the left — while he’s also first among Seagulls players in the Premier League for final third passes completed (1), showing great ball progression.
Kadioglu has been a key reason why Turkey were viewed as dark horses at the last Euros, where they reached the quarter-finals. Somehow, the Crescent-Stars have only ever played at two World Cups, and must now beat Kosovo to start putting that right. It was Kadioglu’s goal against Romania in the semi-final that even gave them that opportunity.
CM: Sandro Tonali (Italy)
Sandro Tonali will tell you himself that he hasn’t hit his top form this season, but he remains one of Newcastle United’s most important players — which is probably why they’ve suffered so much this season.
Tonali was instrumental in Italy’s 2-0 win over Northern Ireland to reach this stage, scoring the first goal and assisting the second. He simply deserves to finally play at a World Cup.
CM: Nicolo Barella (Italy)
The same goes for Nicolo Barella, who is among most people’s shortlists for the best central midfielders in Europe right now.
He’s been a powerhouse for Inter over the last seven years, clocking up 26 goals and a whopping 68 assists in 327 appearances across all competitions, lifting multiple Serie A and Coppa Italia titles, and reaching two Champions League finals along the way.
While this is a combined XI, Barella has a very strong claim to be the best player to miss out on the World Cup from these playoff nations. That’s proven by him being first among Inter players in Serie A this season for tackles (45), take-ons completed (18), final third passes completed (448) and through-balls completed (6), and second for chances created (62).
Like Bastoni, Barella is a key reason why Inter are six points clear at the top of Serie A, and he’ll look to drag Italy over the line in this playoff.
CM: Arda Guler (Turkey)
Arda Guler was one of the breakout stars of Euro 2024, and he’s not exactly slowed down since. The 21-year-old has registered 33 direct goal involvements (10g/23a) for Real Madrid since the start of last season, and amid that record, he sits second only to Lamine Yamal and Luis Milla (both 9) for La Liga assists in 2025/26 (8).
Guler is even more important for Turkey, hitting six goals and seven assists in 27 caps so far — the most recent coming when he set up Kadioglu against Romania to book this do-or-die clash against Kosovo.
This young midfielder will be the centre of attention on Tuesday, and he’ll carry the hopes of 86.1million Turks.
RW: Roony Bardghji (Sweden)
Roony Bardghji has spoken out publicly about his displeasure at being a bit-part player for Barcelona this season. Regardless, you cannot ignore someone who has two goals and four assists for such a big side, especially when he’s hardly starting.
Bardghji only has three senior caps for Sweden so far, but is one of his nation’s brightest talents, who would surely thrive on the World Cup stage if they can make it.
ST: Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
There’s really only one player for this role. One of, if not the, greatest strikers of his generation, Robert Lewandowski continues to be a menace at 37 years old.
The veteran marksman has 16 goals in 37 appearances across all competitions for Barcelona so far this season, meaning he now has 117 in 184 outings for them since arriving in 2022.
Unfortunately, we’ve never seen the best of Lewandowski at a World Cup, scoring just two goals at the tournament to date. But surely, everybody would like to see him get one more go on the biggest stage. Well, everybody apart from Viktor Gyokeres and Sweden, that is.
LW: Kenan Yildiz (Turkey)
After a couple of years of simmering, Kenan Yildiz has truly exploded at Juventus this season. The 20-year-old has 14 goals and 10 assists to his name in 44 appearances across all competitions, including 10 goals and six assists in 29 Serie A outings.
Yildiz is one of the most exciting forwards in Europe right now, and one of the most dangerous in the Italian top-flight. In addition to his direct goal involvements, he’s first among Juve players in Serie A this season for chances created (67), take-ons completed (69) and touches in the opposition box (186) — almost singlehandedly keeping the Old Lady in the Champions League race.
The youngster is second only to Guler in terms of importance for Turkey, who have capped him 27 times already and been rewarded with five goals and two assists. He didn’t register either against Romania, but he more than proved his worth with three chances created and two successful dribbles. The World Cup will be a better place with him there.
Honourable mentions: Alex Meret, Christian Eriksen, Viktor Gyokeres, Federico Dimarco, Patrik Schick, Dejan Kulusevski, Manuel Locatelli, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Moise Kean, Andreas Christensen, Tomas Soucek, Fisnik Asllani, Alexander Isak, Mateo Retegui, Kerem Akturkoglu, Davide Frattesi, Anthony Elanga, Piotr Zielinski, Rasmus Hojlund, Jakub Kiwior, Vedat Muriqi, Hakan Calhanoglu, Orkun Kokcu, Jan Bednarek, Lucas Bergvall, Edin Dzeko, Amir Rrahmani, Victor Lindelof, Giorgio Scalvini, Patrick Dorgu, Kasper Schmeichel