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Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer and the biggest World Cup 2026 squad omissions

Updated: 22 May 2026 10:48 BST | 7 min read

Joao Pedro, Cole Palmer, Chelsea

Cameron Smith

Cameron Smith | Digital Content Producer

Accredited sports journalist covering football since 2020

The countdown to the start of the 2026 World Cup is officially on and the 48 participating nations have begun announcing their 26-man squads ahead of the tournament.

The deadline to submit squads to FIFA is 1 June, but a host of countries have already confirmed their selections ahead of that date, with a number of high-profile stars surprisingly not picked to feature in North America.

Below, FootballTransfers runs through the biggest 2026 World Cup squad omissions, excluding any players ruled out of the tournament due to injury.

Joao Pedro (Brazil)

After 20 goals in all competitions, including 15 in the Premier League, during his first full season at Chelsea, Joao Pedro was a good bet to be Brazil’s starting striker at the World Cup. However, he hasn’t even been selected by Carlo Ancelotti.

His record with the national team is poor - with 0 goals in eight caps - but he started against Croatia in March and his omission is a huge shock considering his sensational form for Chelsea this term.

Igor Thiago and Endrick were selected ahead of him as centre forward options, while Luiz Henrique, Rayan, Gabriel Martinelli and even Neymar were also picked instead of Pedro in attack.

Andrey Santos (Brazil)

Andrey Santos, Pedro’s team-mate for club and country, will also not be travelling to North America, with the Chelsea midfielder left out by Ancelotti.

The 22-year-old has played 43 times during his first season in the Chelsea first-team and although he hasn’t always been a guaranteed starter, he has been a reliable contributor for the Blues across all competitions.

Santos only has six senior Brazil caps, but he was included in the squad in June, September, November and March - even playing 90 minutes versus France in the latter camp - and his exclusion, in favour of Fabinho, Lucas Paqueta and Danilo in midfield, is a slight surprise.

Andrey Santos

Cole Palmer (England)

Cole Palmer scored England’s equaliser during their eventual defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 final, but he will not be repeating that feat at the World Cup after being left out by Thomas Tuchel.

The Chelsea superstar has suffered with an ongoing pubalgia injury throughout this season and having only scored four non-penalty goals in the Premier League in 2025-26, he didn’t deserve to go to the tournament.

A summer of rest will hopefully help fix Palmer’s recurring groin problem and enable him to start the next campaign in the best shape possible.

Phil Foden (England)

Phil Foden went into Euro 2024 as the PFA Player of the Year after helping Man City to the Premier League title, however he endured a tough tournament, despite starting every match.

He was shifted out to the left flank by Gareth Southgate, and his career has stalled ever since, with middling performances for both club and country over the past two years.

Tuchel’s decision to leave Foden at home isn’t a particularly controversial one, with Morgan Rogers, Jude Bellingham and Eberechi Eze selected ahead of him.

Phil Foden

Adam Wharton (England)

Adam Wharton was widely expected to be included in England’s World Cup squad, but the Crystal Palace man is one of several Three Lions stars who will not be travelling to North America.

Instead, Tuchel has picked Jordan Henderson and Kobbie Mainoo as his back-up options to Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson, with the former chosen largely due to his experience and leadership qualities.

Wharton could be sold for a fee in excess of €80m this summer, so his absence from the World Cup is a fairly big surprise.

Morgan Gibbs-White (England)

Morgan Gibbs-White certainly isn’t as big a name as England’s other No.10 options, however he should have been included in Tuchel’s squad based on form.

He notched 17 goals and provided seven assists for Nottingham Forest this season, and his performances in 2026 almost single-handedly dragged his club to Premier League safety with several games to spare.

Gibbs-White couldn’t have done anymore to have earned an inclusion, but his efforts were ultimately in vain.

Morgan Gibbs-White

Robert Andrich (Germany)

Robert Andrich certainly isn’t the biggest name in world football, but having started every game for Germany at Euro 2024, he will not be travelling to the World Cup.

The 31-year-old has been a regular for Bayer Leverkusen yet again this season, however he has slowly fallen out of favour at international level in recent months, largely thanks to the presence of Aleksandar Pavlovic, who missed the Euros due to tonsillitis.

Andrich has only played three minutes for Germany in the last 12 months but to go from a starter at the Euros to out of the picture completely two years is a fairly decline.

Karim Adeyemi (Germany)

Karim Adeyemi played in all four matches for Germany at the 2025 Nations League finals, but he will not feature at the World Cup after being snubbed by Julian Nagelsmann.

The Borussia Dortmund winger, who is on the radar of Chelsea and Manchester United, scored 10 goals and provided six assists in 2025-26, although his form tailed off towards the end of the season.

When asked to explain his decision to omit the 24-year-old, Nagelsmann said: “Karim had a very good first half of the season, but unfortunately things didn't go so well in the second half. I'll say a few words, because Karim always has a bit of a negative reputation. The way he reacted was top-notch. He handled it really well.”

Karim Adeyemi

Mateus Fernandes (Portugal)

Mateus Fernandes, so his exclusion isn’t a massive surprise, but he arguably should’ve been selected.

Portugal have an absolutely stacked midfield roster, however Fernandes would’ve hoped to have been selected ahead of Mallorca star Samu Costa, who was picked by Roberto Martinez.

The West Ham United midfielder has excelled since his arrival in east London and he is expected to secure a huge move this summer amid interest from Arsenal and Man Utd.

Mika Godts (Belgium)

In addition to Fernandes, Man Utd are also interested in signing Ajax winger Mika Godts, who was surprisingly left out of the Belgium squad by Rudi Garcia.

The 20-year-old came into the season as a relatively unknown name, but he is now wanted by a host of top clubs after scoring 17 goals and providing 12 assists in 32 Eredivisie games for Ajax in 2025-26.

Instead, Garcia has selected to take Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo and Strasbourg’s Diego Moreira on the plane to North America.

Mika Godts

Oli McBurnie (Scotland)

Oli McBurnie hasn’t played for Scotland since 2021, so his omission from Steve Clarke shouldn’t be too much of a shock.

However, he has scored 18 goals for Hull City this season and he has undoubtedly been one of the best players in the Championship in 2025-26, with Sergej Jakirovic's side now only one game away from the Premier League.

But, Clarke has instead opted to select Che Adams, Lyndon Dykes, George Hirst, Lawrence Shankland and Ross Stewart as his striker options for the World Cup.

Eduardo Camavinga (France)

Based on form, it’s no surprise that Eduardo Camavinga isn’t going to the World Cup, however he is still one of the biggest names to miss out on the tournament via a selection omission.

The 23-year-old has 29 senior caps for France and although he has never been a consistent starter under Didier Deschamps, his exclusion is still a big talking point.

Camavinga played 43 times for Real Madrid this season, but he will not be flying to North America in June, with N'Golo Kanté, Manu Koné, Adrien Rabiot, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Warren Zaïre-Emery selected ahead of him.