- We highlight ten players, aged 28-plus, who the World Cup needs to see
- Alaba, Bale, Oblak and Van Dijk are among the Europeans
- Two huge African talents have never played in the finals
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Gabon
31 years old
65 caps
26 goals
Group F (Africa)
Egypt, Gabon, Libya, Angola.
Other key players
Mario Lemina (Fulham), Denis Bouanga (Saint-Etienne)
Aubameyang
Aubameyang could have chosen to represent France, Italy or Spain, but selected Gabon as a 19-year-old because his dad once captained them. He was named CAF African Footballer of the Year for 2015 and has finished on the podium for the award five times. He also pipped Robert Lewandowski to be crowned Bundesliga Player of the Year for 2015/16, becoming the first African to win the prize, and has finished as the leading marksman and joint-top scorer in Germany and England respectively.
Gabon performed admirably in South Africa 2010 qualifying, beating Morocco home and away and having a chance of reaching a first-ever World Cup going into the final matchday, only to miss out to Cameroon. Their Brazil 2014 and Russia 2018 qualifying attempts were nevertheless disappointing.
Gareth Bale
Wales
31 years old
87 caps
33 goals
Group E
Belgium, Wales, Czech Republic, Belarus, Estonia.
Other key players
Ben Davies (Tottenham), Aaron Ramsey (Juventus), Daniel James (Manchester United).
Bale
An electric, skilful attacker possessing great crossing and shooting ability, the serial scorer of wonder goals became the world’s most expensive player when he joined Real Madrid from Tottenham. He dazzled as Real Madrid for four UEFA Champions Leagues and three FIFA Club World Cup™ crowns, headlining finals on multiple occasions.
Wales came nowhere near reaching South Africa 2010 or Brazil 2014, but only a 1-0 loss at home to Republic of Ireland, without the injured Bale, in their final Group D game denied them a playoff for a place at Russia 2018. The Dragons can draw confidence from eliminating Belgium to reach the UEFA EURO 2016 quarter-finals – their first major tournament since Sweden 1958 – and qualifying for EURO 2020.
Atiba Hutchinson
Canada
38 years old
84 caps
7 goals
Group B, First Round (Concacaf)
Canada, Suriname, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Aruba.
Other key players
Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Jonathan David (Lille), Cyle Larin (Besiktas).
Hutchinson
The man who made his international debut over 18 years ago insisted he was going to call it quits in 2019. However, his fine form for Besiktas, who lead the Turkish Super Lig, and the emergence of Canada’s finest generation of players of all time has seemingly got ‘The Octopus’ dreaming of Qatar.
The Canucks haven’t come close to reaching the World Cup since playing in it for the first time at Mexico 1986, but there’s never been more optimism within their squad.
Wu Lei
China PR
29 years old
67 caps
18 goals
Group A, Second Round (Asia)
Syria, China PR, Philippines, Maldives, Guam.
Other key players
Yu Dabao (Beijing Guoan), Elkeson (Guangzhou)
Wu
At 14, Wu became the youngest-ever player to appear in professional football in China. In 2018, he became the first Asian player in 11 years to be named Chinese Football of the Year, an award he retained 12 months later. The winger left Shanghai SIPG as the second-top scorer in Chinese Super League history, and has since sizzled for Espanyol, memorably scoring a last-gasp equaliser in the derby against Barcelona.
Since appearing at Korea/Japan 2002, China have struggled in the World Cup preliminaries. They are currently second in their pool with seven points from four outings.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Armenia
32 years old
88 caps
30 goals
Group J (Europe)
Germany, Romania, Iceland, North Macedonia, Armenia, Liechtenstein.
Other key players
Vahan Bichakhchyan (Zilina), Sargis Adamyan (Hoffenheim)
Mkhitaryan
The former Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United and Arsenal attacking midfielder has been one of the best players in Serie A this season.
Armenia have never come close to reaching a major tournament, but they are unbeaten in five games and did pull off some impressive results in UEFA EURO 2020 qualifying, such as a 3-2 victory in Greece and a 4-2 reverse of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Jan Oblak
Slovenia
28 years old
33 caps
Group H (Europe)
Croatia, Slovakia, Russia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta.
Other key players
Jasmin Kurtic (Parma), Miha Zajc (Genoa), Josip Ilicic (Atalanta)
Oblak
The Slovenia captain, who finished third in The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper 2020 running, has been one of finest players in his position for years. He incredibly won the Zamora Trophy – awarded to the keeper with the lowest goals per games conceded in La Liga – four seasons running
Oblak became Slovenia’s first-choice goalie after the international retirement of Samir Handanovic in late 2015. Despite five clean sheets in ten matches in Russia 2018 qualifying, however, the Slovenians could only finish fourth in the six-team Group 6, narrowly behind Slovakia and Scotland.
Goran Pandev
North Macedonia
37 years old
114 caps
36 goals
Group J
Germany, Romania, Iceland, North Macedonia, Armenia, Liechtenstein.
Other key players
Ezgjan Alioski (Leeds United), Eljif Elmas (Napoli), Enis Bardhi (Levante).
Pandev
The deep-lying forward was on fire at Lazio before joining Inter Milan and helping them complete a famous treble in 2009/10. Pandev is still impressing in Serie A for Genoa.
North Macedonia have never finished in the top three in a World Cup qualifying group, but they are fresh from reaching their first major tournament: UEFA EURO 2020.
Virgil van Dijk
Netherlands
29 years old
38 caps
4 goals
Group G (Europe)
Netherlands, Turkey, Norway, Montenegro, Latvia, Gibraltar
Other key players
Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus), Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool), Frenkie De Jong (Barcelona), Memphis Depay (Lyon).
Van Dijk
The 6ft 4ins centre-back became the world’s most expensive defender when he joined Liverpool from Southampton. He more than repaid their £75m outlay by helping the Reds win the Premier League, Champions League and Club World Cup, and the club’s current defensive struggles pay testament to just how irreplaceable he is. Van Dijk finished runner-up to Lionel Messi for The Best FIFA Men’s Player award in 2019.
Louis van Gaal overlooked Van Dijk for Brazil 2014 and he didn’t make his international debut until the following year. The Netherlands finished behind France and Sweden in Russia 2018 qualifying, but their impressive resurgence thereafter included reaching the UEFA Nations League final.
Wilfried Zaha
Côte d’Ivoire
28 years old
18 caps
5 goals
Group D (Africa)
Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Malawi
Other key players
Eric Bailly (Manchester United), Serge Aurier (Tottenham), Franck Kessie (AC Milan), Nicolas Pepe (Arsenal), Maxwel Cornet (Lyon).
Zaha
The Crystal Palace winger-cum-forward has been one of the most dangerous players in the Premier League for years. Zaha won two caps for England in 2012 and ’13, but after not adding to that tally, he switched allegiance, despite opposal from Gareth Southgate, and debuted for Les Éléphants in 2017.
Duvan Zapata
Colombia
29 years old
18 caps
4 goals
Other key players
David Ospina (Napoli), Yerry Mina (Everton), Davinson Sanchez (Tottenham), James Rodriguez (Everton), Luis Muriel (Atalanta), Falcao (Galatasaray).
Zapata
Due to intense competition for places in attack, the hulking striker didn’t make his Colombia debut until 2017. He made Jose Pekerman’s 35-man preliminary list for Russia 2018, but was one of the players axed at the final cut. Zapata responded by hitting 23 goals in 37 games for Atalanta in the 2018/19 Serie A, and 18 in 28 the following season.
Colombia are seventh in South American qualifying, with four points from four games as they bid to reach a third successive World Cup.