Russia World Cup 2018: Who's in and who's out of next year's World Cup
- Published
Lionel Messi celebrates with his teammates after their crucial 3-1 victory over Ecuador. Messi was undoubtedly the man of the match after his hat-trick secured their place at the 2018 World Cup. The tournament could be Messi's last chance to make Argentina World Champions before retirement.
Portugal celebrate their 2-0 victory over Switzerland. The result pushed the Swiss in to second place in their group. It was a nail-biting match but AC Milan's Andre Silva added to Switzerland's first-half own goal, victory - and qualification - was assured. Cristiano was pleased!
Netherlands scored a great 2-0 win over rivals Sweden, but sadly they needed an 8-0 win to overtake the Swedes and take their place in the play-offs. To add to the disappointment, Arjen Robben announced his retirement from international football after the match. The Bayern Munich forward said "I'm 33 years old now. I'm playing at a top club in Europe and I want to concentrate on it now. It's also a good time to hand over the baton."
Gareth Bale watches as Wales stumble to defeat against the Republic of Ireland in the 57th minute. He heads the list of famous players that won't be playing at the 2018 World Cup, that includes Arjen Robben and of course...
Alexis Sanchez! He plays for Chile and his team suffered a punishing 3-0 defeat against Brazil. This result has come as a shock as Chile are reigning South American champions.
The Iceland team lead the celebrations in capital city Reykjavik after becoming the smallest country in the world to qualify.
Defender Andy Robertson looks on in disappointment after Scotland drew 2-2 against Slovenia, missing out on a possible play-off slot. The draw comes as a bitter disappointment to the team that haven't been to a World Cup since 1998.
The USA have been to every World Cup since 1986... but they won't be in Russia. They simply had to beat Trinidad & Tobago to go through... but they managed to lose 2-1! To make things even worse Trinidad and Tobago were knocked out of the qualifiers months ago and had nothing to play for, other than pride of course.
China's another giant country that failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Despite huge spending on the country's football league, the national team still have a long way to go! There are more than 1.3bn people in China, maybe they can support...
...tiny Panama at next year's tournament! They secured a surprise win in the final moments of their game against Costa Rica on Wednesday. Here the fans are celebrating the 2-1 win with the players.
- Published8 June 2018
- Published10 October 2017
