Cole Palmer, Rodrygo and the biggest stars who are missing from the 2026 World Cup

There are teams with more depth than England right now, and Thomas Tuchel could easily have selected two squads that would have had a decent chance of going deep into this summer's tournament. Even so, it came as quite a shock when the Three Lions boss opted to omit Cole Palmer from his final 26.

It's true that Palmer has struggled with form and fitness over the past season at Chelsea, but there is no doubt when it comes to his game-changing abilities either as a starter or off the bench. He's also an experienced penalty-taker, but the man who scored England's goal in the Euro 2024 final wasn't on the plane to North America two years later.

Palmer is in good company in that regard, too. Recent tournament stalwarts Phil Foden, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw all failed to make the cut, while there was genuine shock that none of Morgan Gibbs-White, Jarrod Bowen, Adam Wharton or Lewis Hall found their way into the final squad given their impressive individual campaigns in the Premier League.

Palmer was not the only Chelsea star to be surprisingly left at home, either, as Carlo Ancelotti chose to leave Joao Pedro out of his Brazil squad despite the forward's 20-goal campaign at Stamford Bridge.

Pedro had looked to have been in pole position for the Selecao's coveted No.9 shirt after starting the second of their March friendlies, a 3-1 win over Croatia, up front. However, he was overlooked in favour of Brentford's Igor Thiago, meaning he will have to wait to add to his eight international caps.

The likes of Richarlison, Savinho and Joelinton also missed out on selection, highlighting the wealth of players available to Ancelotti ahead of his first major tournament as coach - and that's without getting into those who were already ruled out through injury...

Ex-Real Madrid boss Ancelotti was unable to call upon one of his former charges, Rodrygo, this summer after the forward suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in early March.

Having just returned from a previous spell on the sidelines, Rodrygo went down clutching his right knee during Madrid's win over Getafe. His worst fears were subsequently confirmed after undergoing scans the following day, meaning the 25-year-old will miss out on the chance for redemption after having his penalty saved during the Selecao's shootout loss to Croatia in the quarter-finals of the 2022 tournament.

Brazil seem to have been bitten by the injury bug more than most, with Rodrygo's Madrid team-mate Eder Militao also missing after being forced to undergo thigh surgery in April. Militao has been beset by fitness issues in recent years, most notably tearing the ACLs in both his knees in the space of 15 months, and is now set to be out of action until October.

Perhaps the most disappointing of all Brazil's absentees is that of teenage sensation Estevao, who suffered a hamstring injury while playing for Chelsea in April that he was unable to recover from in time. Given the 19-year-old had scored five goals in his last six international appearances, it's a real shame that he won't be able to strut his stuff on the biggest stage of all this summer.

While Brazil were unable to select two of their Real Madrid representatives, Spain have made the historic choice not to include any member of Los Blancos' squad for the first time in their World Cup history.

The most surprising omission to that end was Dean Huijsen, who had endured an up-and-down first season at the Bernabeu following his summer arrival from Bournemouth, but was still expected to not just be part of Luis de la Fuente's roster this summer, but start for the European champions, given he had been named to the line up on six of the previous seven occasions he had been available for La Roja.

At the other end of his career, Dani Carvajal may have played his final game for his country after the veteran right-back was also left at home.

Spain have suffered from injuries, too, with the most notable absentee on that front being Fermin Lopez. At the end of a season in which he produced 30 combined goals and assists, the Barcelona midfielder suffered a broken foot that required surgery and thus ruled him out of the upcoming tournament. Porto striker Samu Aghehowa, meanwhile, suffered a torn ACL in February.

There was further bad news for another member of the Real Madrid team from France manager Didier Deschamps, as he chose to leave out Eduardo Camavinga for what will be the coach's final tournament in charge.

Camavinga endured a difficult second half of the season in the Spanish capital, and given he was already slipping down Les Bleus' midfield pecking order, it perhaps came as no surprise when he didn't make the final 26.

Deschamps already knew, meanwhile, that he would have to cope without Hugo Ekitike after the forward suffered a ruptured Achilles in April that is set to rule him out of action for the remainder of 2026.

Ekitike only made his international debut in September, but had firmly established himself in within France's attacking ranks following an impressive debut season at Liverpool that saw him score 17 goals for Arne Slot's side, while he even netted what proved to be the winner in Les Bleus' friendly victory over Brazil in March.

However, he will now be forced to watch on from afar this summer.

After reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2024, the Netherlands believe they are capable of challenging for glory this summer. Their hopes, however, have suffered a major blow after it was confirmed in late April that Xavi Simons had torn his ACL while playing for Tottenham against Wolves.

While Simons struggled for consistency during his debut season in the Premier League following his arrival from RB Leipzig, he has emerged as one of Ronald Koeman's most dependable operators during the current World Cup cycle, while his ability to produce something from nothing in attack will be sorely missed by an Oranje squad that otherwise lacks game-breaking talents.

Manchester United defender Matthijs de Ligt is in a similar boat after he was forced to undergo back surgery for the injury that had kept him out of action at Old Trafford since the end of November. De Ligt had hoped he would be able to put off the procedure until after this summer's tournament, but was eventually forced to admit defeat.

Koeman, meanwhile, chose to leave out Liverpool's flying full-back Jeremie Frimpong andAZ Alkmaar's highly-rated and in-demand midfielder, Kees Smit.

Germany head to the World Cup with some question marks regarding how they will score goals in North America, and Julian Nagelsmann would have hoped that Serge Gnabry could play a key role in ensuring Die Mannschaft's attack was able to function, given he had scored in four of their previous seven games ahead of their squad being announced.

However, after a strong season for Bayern Munich where Gnabry shone as a No.10 behind the free-flowing frontline of Michael Olise, Harry Kane and Luis Diaz, returning double-figures for both goals and assists, he suffered a torn adductor during training in April that meant, just like in 2018, he would not be available for selection.

Japan have been spoken of as potential dark horses for the tournament, with the Samurai Blue having put together one of the strongest squads to ever represent an Asian nation. However, if they are to go past the last 16 for the first time in their World Cup history, Japan will have to do without arguably their best player, Kaoru Mitoma.

The winger, who scored the winning goal against England in March's friendly, suffered a hamstring injury in the closing weeks of the Premier League season while playing for Brighton, and will not recover in time to be able to play a meaningful part at this summer's tournament.

With Takumi Minamino already having been ruled out after suffering a torn ACL in December, Japan's attacking options do not look as potent as they might have had were they not struck by the injury bug.

While no player wants to miss out on selection for a World Cup, it hurts even more for those who were set to represent a host nation. It's hard not to feel sorry for United States midfielder Johnny Cardoso, then, as he was forced to undergo ankle surgery in May that put pay to any hope of the Atletico Madrid man making it into Mauricio Pochettino's squad.

He joins striker Patrick Agyemang in being forced to watch on from home after the forward suffered a serious Achilles tendon injury while playing for Derby County in April. Agyemang had played in both of the U.S.' March friendlies, scoring against Portugal to take his international goal tally to six in just 14 appearances, but will have to wait to add to that tally now.

Somewhat controversially, Pochettino opted against selecting attacking midfielder Diego Luna, despite the Real Salt Lake star having been one of the USMNT's most consistent performers over the past 12 months.

Fellow co-hosts Mexico have also been dealt an injury blow ahead of the tournament after first-choice goalkeeper Luis Angel Malagon ruptured his Achilles tendon while playing for Club America in the CONCACAF Champions League, meaning El Tri will be without the Golden Glove winner from last year's Gold Cup for this tournament.

However, while one player's World Cup dream ends, it presents an opportunity for someone else to step up, and Malagon's absence has opened the door for veteran shot-stopper Guillermo Ochoa to feature at his sixth World Cup on the eve of his 41st birthday.

Coaches and fans alike are now praying that no more injuries befall their teams during their pre-tournament training camps and warm-up friendlies. However, a couple of key men have already been forced to withdraw from the tournament in the final days before the big kick-off.

Coming off a season where he scored 17 goals and provided eight assists for RB Leipzig, Christoph Baumgartner was expected to be a key player for Austria this summer. However, in the pre-match warm-up for his country's friendly against Tunisia, the attacking midfielder pulled up before exiting the pitch.

Already fearing the worst, it was confirmed the following day that Baumgartner would require surgery on a torn thigh muscle and thus would not be heading to North America.

Scotland are also counting the cost of their pre-tournament outings as key midfielder Billy Gilmour suffered a knee injury in the victory over Curacao at Hampden Park that means the Napoli man was forced to pull out of Steve Clarke's squad.