The most extreme possibility of the 2026 World Cup - these two top traditional teams are absent

As of now, the most regrettable team in the World Cup qualifiers worldwide is Venezuela. As the only team in South American football that has never scored in the World Cup, Venezuela is indeed the closest to being shortlisted this time. Before the last round, they ranked seventh and could retain their playoff spot by defeating Colombia. The strange thing about this 3:6 is that in the previous 8 home games, Venezuela remained unbeaten with 4 wins and 4 draws, but in the last game that could be called a life-and-death battle, they were defeated at home.

In this way, the 2026 World Cup is destined to fail to achieve historic full attendance in South American football. If Venezuela wants to achieve this, it will take as long as 4 years. Of course, the so-called full attendance in South America is just a gimmick. Venezuela is not a strong team. Whether they enter the World Cup will not have much impact on neutral fans. However, in African football, Nigeria and Cameroon are indeed worrying. Their situation is not very good at the moment, and the best result for Cameroon is to win a playoff spot, and Nigeria may even be eliminated directly. Both teams are representatives of African football and the most impressive African teams in the World Cup. In the context of military expansion, if they both absent, it is a real huge regret.

However, at present, the biggest potential regret on the world is in Europe. Although the World Cup qualifiers are not over yet, there is indeed an extreme possibility that the two top traditional teams in Europe may both miss the 2026 World Cup. These two teams ranked among the top two in the World Cup in European football history - Germany and Italy. Italy has been in trouble in recent years and has missed two consecutive World Cups. This expansion has little impact on the European World Cup qualifiers. How did Italy stagger before? This time it is still the case, and it is even more difficult. Italy was suppressed by Norway in the group stage and is likely to participate in the play-offs. And in the past two play-offs, Italy has gray memories. What is even more unexpected is Germany. Few people can imagine that Germany is so difficult in the World Cup. The situation was already very bad when they lost to Slovakia 0:2 in the first game. There are 4 teams in this group, and it is really fatal to lose to direct competitors. In fact, the current situation in Germany is exactly the same as that in Italy. Unless a great thing comes, it will be difficult for them to directly advance to the top. If both fall into the playoffs, the variables will be huge. The most extreme possibility cannot be ruled out, that is, neither Germany nor Italy will appear in the 2026 World Cup. Since the 21st century, there have been few cases of top teams absent from the World Cup, with only a handful of cases. For example, the Netherlands in 2002 and Italy in 222. However, in the 2018 World Cup, two top teams were absent, the Netherlands and Italy. With the current scale of the World Cup, the lack of any top team gives people an incomplete feeling. If Germany and Italy have won four World Cup championships, and are an old-fashioned team that occupies an important position in the history of world football, if they are absent together, it will be a subversive event for the World Cup. Italy's lack of top players in recent years has gradually become accustomed to us. Germany's decline was a bit sudden. Especially after Kroos retired, Germany seems to have no experienced and extremely high-level players. The growth of Werz and Musiara needs to be faster. Hopefully, this extreme possibility will not become a reality.