No Salah, no Ronaldo, no Neymar — Club World Cup kicks off without five of football's biggest stars
BARCELONA, June 12 — Fifa's inaugural expanded Club World Cup in the United States has one billion dollars of prize money on the line but will be missing some of the game's star names.
AFP Sport highlights five players who will not be lighting up stadiums across the United States once it gets underway this weekend:
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Liverpool finished as English champions, but like Spain's Barcelona and Italy's Napoli, will not be at the Club World Cup, because of the convoluted qualification process.
That means Egyptian winger Salah, who broke the Premier League record for goal involvements, with 29 strikes and 18 assists, misses out.
After a tiring season in which he faded in the latter months Salah might not be too upset about having a summer off. The winger posted a photo of himself sunbathing by the beach on Instagram.
However, it will be a shame that African football icon Salah, captain Virgil van Dijk and others miss out on the chance of a potential rematch against their Champions League conquerors Paris Saint-Germain.
Liverpool transfer target Florian Wirtz will also be absent, as his side Bayer Leverkusen did not qualify.
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
No player in world football this season has offered more excitement than Barcelona's 17-year-old star Lamine Yamal.
The Spain winger has been in sensational form for his club this season and is one of the candidates to win the Ballon d'Or.
Yamal's thrilling dribbling and penchant for the spectacular make him one of the biggest draws in world football at the moment.
He is often compared to former Barcelona great Lionel Messi, but because of the Spanish champions' absence, may have missed out on his only chance to face the Argentina star, who will be there with Inter Miami.
Barcelona's Raphinha, midfield maestro Pedri and veteran striker Robert Lewandowski are others who will be missed.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr)
Messi will also not go up against his long-time rival Ronaldo in the US.
The Portuguese striker, 40, was reported to be looking for a way to play in the tournament.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino had suggested Ronaldo might move from Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr to a team who had reached the event, saying that 'discussions' were being held over it.
Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo, who won the Nations League with Portugal last weekend, indicated after the game however he was set to stay at Al Nassr.
'Some teams reached out to me,' the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star revealed last Saturday on the eve of the Nations League final.
'Some made sense and others did not, but you can't try and do everything. You can't catch every ball.'
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Champions League semi-finalists Arsenal are another team to miss out and after finishing the season trophyless, the Club World Cup would have been a chance to win some silverware.
England international Saka's only club trophy, excluding the FA Community Shield, was an FA Cup win with Arsenal in 2020.
Mikel Arteta's side showed this season they have improved to the point where they are in contention for major honours, including knocking out Real Madrid in the Champions League, but came up just short.
For a player of his quality, who has spent six seasons playing regularly at the top level, Saka could do with expanding his medal collection.
Arsenal will be disappointed to miss out on the prize money too, as they try to overhaul Liverpool and Manchester City, who have dominated the English game in recent seasons.
Neymar (Santos)
Brazilian icon Neymar struggled with injury at Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia and returned to Santos in January 2025, hoping to get fit and firing ahead of next summer's World Cup.
The 33-year-old forward, despite fading with age, is still one of the biggest names in the game and his absence is also a blow in a commercial sense.
'Neymar, what can I say about him? He's an outstanding player, who, for me, in my football cycle, is in the top three, with Cristiano and Messi,' said Brazil midfielder Casemiro.
With organisers struggling to sell tickets, Neymar's presence would have been a boon. — AFP
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