There are 32 countries that made it through this year, which includes ‘out-of-the-syllabus’ countries like Iceland, Panama and Egypt and also the usual favourites- Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Spain.
However, there are a few big teams that couldn’t make it to the FIFA World Cup this year. Here are some of the several notable teams that suffered the heartbreak.
- Chile
The defeat of the reigning Copa America champions came as a big shock to many. For years, Chile has been an integral part of the teams from the South American continent, but failed to make it this year. A lot of blame has been placed on the coach, Antonio Pizzi and also on senior players like Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez. Thus concluding, the Chilean charm won’t be felt this year.
- Netherlands
Quite a lot of people remember Netherlands’ as an intimidating opponent back in 2014 and 2010. The country also has quite a conspicuous World Cup presence, which won’t be seen this time. The failure is a result of a poor performance streak under two rapidly changed coaches, Danny Blind and Dick Advocaat.
- Italy
The biggest heartbreak has perhaps been faced by the Italian team and fans. The four time champions lost to Spain and Sweden in the qualifying matches and failed to qualify. It was all the more depressing to see formidable players like Gianluigi Buffon and Daniele De Rossi resigning altogether. After the inability to fulfil the expectations, Coach Giampiero Ventura has also been sacked.
