With just days to go until the start of Euro 2016, top players seem to be dropping like flies.
We managed to produce a pretty solid XI of players who didn’t qualify for tournament before the draw was even made, but as the deadline for squads approaches we’ve seen more and more candidates emerge.
Whether they’re missing out through injury, or they’ve simply not been picked by their international manager, here’s our team of players from the 24 qualifying countries who won’t be making the trip to France.
Kevin Trapp
The Paris Saint-Germain number one has held off the challenge of Salvatore Sirigu to emerge as first choice for the French champions, but he won’t be playing at the Parc des Princes during the Euros.
Despite turning out for Germany at every level from Under-18 to Under-21, the former Eintracht Frankfurt man has yet to make his senior bow. With Manuel Neuer, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Bernd Leno chosen for this summer’s festivities, he might have to wait a while longer.
Dani Carvajal
Real Madrid regular Carvajal was a shoo-in for the Spanish squad, having really pushed on this season for the Champions League winners.
That was until he suffered a hip injury in the second half of Saturday’s final against Atletico, ruling him out for an unspecified amount of time. Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin has taken his place.
Vincent Kompany
We’ve arguably reached the point where Kompany being fit for a sustained amount of time would be more of a shock, given his injury struggles this season.
But the Manchester City captain will miss out for Belgium, who have suffered something of an injury crisis at centre-back with Nicolas Lombaerts and Dedryck Boyata also being ruled out. Time to move Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld across from full-back, perhaps.
Raphael Varane
France have been similarly unlucky in the build-up to the tournament, with Varane joining Kurt Zouma and Jeremy Mathieu on the sidelines and Mamadou Sakho initially being ruled out with a drugs ban (which was later overturned).
The Real Madrid regular was among the best young players at the World Cup in Brazil, and was expected to partner Laurent Koscielny on home soil this summer until injury struck.
Nacho Monreal
Monreal may well have been in the running had Cesar Azpilicueta not been converted into a left-back by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, but the Arsenal man has suffered from strong competition for places among Spain’s seleccion.
In fact, the 30-year-old probably isn’t even his country’s third-choice left-back, with Bayern Munich’s Juan Bernat getting more of a look-in of late.
Marco Reus
Reus has to be injured. He just has to be. We can’t bring ourselves to believe Jogi Löw would have simply cut the Dortmund star from his squad on his birthday – no one’s that cruel.
The 27-year-old was ruled out of the last World Cup with an ankle injury, and this is just cruel luck.
Claudio Marchisio
Another injury victim, Marchisio has had longer to come to terms with the fact that he won’t be playing a part in this summer’s European Championships.
The Juventus midfielder ruptured his cruciate ligament back in April, ruling him out for much of the rest of the year, and Italy’s misery has since been compounded by Marco Verratti – his likely understudy – suffering a season-ending groin problem.
Ilkay Gundogan
Like his club and international team-mate Reus, Gundogan is set to miss his second straight major tournament.
After a spinal compression ruled him out for almost the entirety of the 2013/14 season, it had seemed as though the 25-year-old was back to something approaching his best. But he dislocated his kneecap during a basketball game and now faces an extended spell on the sidelines.
Juan Mata
Mata might not be injured, but he still doesn’t feature in Vicente del Bosque’s plans for the summer.
The Manchester United man is one of a number of high-profile absentees, and will not add to his 41 caps in France. With Fernando Torres also left out, half of Spain’s goalscorers from the Euro 2012 final will be staying at home.
Diego Costa
Perhaps the highest-profile player to be simply left out of his country’s squad, Costa’s omission is a big gamble from Vicente del Bosque.
Even though the Brazil-born forward hasn’t replicated his club form at international level, he’s one of the most dangerous forwards in Europe when on top of his game.
Karim Benzema
We’ve covered those players who are injured, unfit or unpopular, but it’s rare that ‘left out following sex tape controversy’ is a sentence many expected to feature in pre-tournament write-ups.
But Benzema has been omitted from Didier Deschamps’ squad after earlier being suspended in relation to the controversy, which involved international team-mate Mathieu Valbuena. At least Les Bleus aren’t exactly short on options.
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