Ronaldo, Yamal & 7 other world-class players absent from the Club World Cup
The 2025 Club World Cup will be graced by several world-class footballers from the likes of Manchester City, PSG and Real Madrid – but an equal number won’t play in the competition at all.
With only 12 clubs qualifying from Europe, teams such as Arsenal, Barcelona and Liverpool will be missing.
We’ve picked out nine big players who won’t play in the expanded tournament in the United States this month.
Cristiano Ronaldo
You just know that Gianni Infantino will have been gutted that he wasn’t able to manufacture some kind of convoluted scheme to get Cristiano Ronaldo out there as one of the poster boys for his flagship tournament.
But Ronaldo’s lack of silverware in Saudi Arabia left the FIFA president with no option. Lionel Messi will be there with Inter Miami, but his old foe won’t.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund-backed club would’ve liked nothing more than to show off their shiny toys in front of the world this summer.
But perhaps a summer off for a 40-year-old playing in the scorching Saudi climate can’t hurt, either.
Lamine Yamal
There’s arguably no squad in world football that needs more of a rest than Hansi Flick’s Barcelona right now. The good news is that’s exactly what they’ll be getting.
In particular, you look at 17-year-old Lamine Yamal – who has clocked up 62 appearances and over 4000 minutes for club and country – and thank the stars he’ll be getting a much-needed few weeks off.
It would be a footballing tragedy if he suffers the same injury fate that overworked Barca youngsters like Ansu Fati and Pedri have endured in their fledgling careers.
Neymar
Neymar would’ve been at this summer’s Club World Cup had he remained with Al Hilal, but left for boyhood club Santos back in January.
The Brazilian superstar has stated his ambitions of putting his injury hell behind him and getting back to his very best for one last dance at the (proper) World Cup next summer.
You suspect that his road to recovery will benefit from playing away from the spotlight.
Mohamed Salah
Liverpool have been up there amongst the European elite over the past four years, but missed out due to the rule of two clubs per association.
In terms of aforementioned UEFA four-year qualification table, Arne Slot’s Reds are the highest-ranked side to miss out.
Which means Salah won’t be playing in the United States this summer. Liverpool’s Egyptian King scored 29 Premier League goals during their title-winning campaign and gets the summer to put his feet up.
Florian Wirtz
On the verge of moving to Liverpool for a British record transfer fee, Wirtz wouldn’t have played in the Club World Cup even if he’d stayed at Bayer Leverkusen.
Despite winning the Bundesliga in 2024, their lack of European success means Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will represent Germany at the finals.
Having looked tired during Germany’s Nations League matches in June, Wirtz can now focus on resting himself before making his Premier League bow.
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Raphinha
After moving from Leeds United in the summer of 2022, Brazil international Raphinha blossomed into a world-class superstar for Barcelona last season.
With 34 goals and 25 assists in all competitions, the 27-year-old has made himself a leading contender for the Ballon d’Or and will be a huge miss at the Club World Cup.
Virgil van Dijk
Van Dijk had seemed to lose half a yard and a whole lot of aura after following his ACL injury in 2020.
But under the management of Arne Slot, the defender is now better than ever.
He was imperious for Liverpool in 2024-25 and looked as good as he did when the Reds were competing for top honours under Jurgen Klopp, if not even better.
After the Netherlands’ two World Cup qualifiers in June, Van Dijk can rest himself for Liverpool’s title defence next season.
Alexander Isak
Isak was in scintillating form recently for Newcastle last season and is now widely regarded as the best striker outside of Erling Haaland in the Premier League.
With 23 goals in 34 league matches, it’s no wonder that the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool have been sniffing around in recent months.
But Newcastle are very unlikely to sell their main asset before competing in the Champions League next season, so Isak gets the summer off.
Pedri
There aren’t enough superlatives for quite how good Pedri was in 2024-25 and he is quite possibly the best midfielder in the world right now.
He’ll remain among the very first names on the teamsheet at Barcelona next season and will get the summer to rest following the Catalans’ failure to qualify for the Club World Cup.