OCEANS APART XIWith every squad for the Geopolitics World Cup now finalised – Turkey, Jordan, Ghana and Uzbekistan were the last teams to confirm their 26-man rosters on Tuesday – we now know exactly who is making the trip to the tournament. But as a leading expert in rejection, constantly trying and failing to convince your inbox to let us out of the spam folder, Football Daily is just as interested in those who have been snubbed than those that will be subbed. The reactions to the omissions was also fascinating: sure, being selected to represent your country at the GWC is cool, but have you ever had to trawl through the Social Media Disgraces of Harry Maguire’s mum as she reacts to her son’s omission from the England squad with all the rage and injustice of Germany reacting to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles? And with that image seared into our collective brains, we humbly present our Omitted XI (4-3-3), the best non-knacked players (of qualified nations) that didn’t or won’t make it on to planes bound for the USA USA USA, Canada and Mexico.Goalkeeper: Lucas Chevalier (France): Chevalier has had a brutal season after a €40m move from Lille last summer. He lost the gloves at PSG to a Russian who could potentially be mistaken for a Games Workshop employee and now is fourth or fifth choice in the French pecking order.Right-back: Jeremie Frimpong (Netherlands): as much end product as an asthmatic balloon entertainer but an electrifying player nonetheless, who suffered from being played out of position by Arne Slot at Liverpool. The man he was meant to replace at Anfield, Trent Alexander-Arnold, also missed out.Centre-back: António Silva (Portugal): much-hyped 22-year-old fell out of favour for club and country at the worst possible time. Roberto Martínez named Silva as the man who accidentally leaked Portugal’s XI against Georgia at Euro 2024 but the Portugal manager insisted that was not a factor here.Centre-back: Dean Huijsen (Spain): there are no Real Madrid players in a Spain World Cup squad for the first time ever. The Dutch-born defender’s decision to switch allegiance after a youth career with the Netherlands looks to be something of a gaffe.Left-back: Alejandro Balde (Spain): admittedly, Spain have excellent options in Marc Cucurella and Alejandro Grimaldo, but with 42 appearances in all competitions for La Liga champions Barcelona, Balde can feel unlucky to miss out.Central midfield: Adam Wharton (England): we can only hope those Jordan Henderson vibes are worth it, Thomas.Does Tin Pot mean nothing? Oh. Photograph: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty ImagesCentral midfield: Eduardo Camavinga (France): another Madrid casualty. Yes, France’s squad is stacked but central midfield is arguably their weakest position and the 23-year-old has heaps of elite experience, including the 2022 final.Central midfield: Diego Luna (USA USA USA): after featuring on Times Square billboards and pre-GWC Nike adverts, Luna was informed via email by Mauricio Pochettino that he was out, despite seven goal involvements in 16 internationals.Right wing: Mika Godts (Belgium): the wonderkid can play off both flanks but his versatility and more than 30 goal contributions for Ajax were still not enough to convince Rudi Garcia of a place in the squad. Oh, Rudi!Left wing: Morgan Gibbs-White (England): as Phil Foden struggled for form and Cole Palmer for fitness, Gibbs-White was arguably the best player in the Premier League in 2026, scoring 12 league goals since early January for a Nottingham Forest side at the wrong end of the table.Striker: João Pedro (Brazil): evidently, being player of the year for a mid-table Premier League side based in west London doesn’t mean much to Carlo Ancelotti and Brazil (unless, of course, you are Brentford’s Igor Thiago).HERE. WE. GOThe GWC player interactive has arrived! Thanks Fifa. Read up on all 1,248 players, from the Paraguay striker called “Viking” to the Irish-born Cape Verde defender who received his first call-up via LinkedSky. Once you’re clued up on all 48 teams’ strengths and weaknesses, you can have a go at Bracketology, our World Cup simulator game where you can click your way through the group stage and the knockouts to predict a champion. And for bookmarking, you can keep tabs on the sharpest shooters with our Golden Boot tracker.Zing! Illustration: Guardian Design; Getty ImagesQUOTE OF THE DAY“There are low points, there’s depression. You can suffer from depression in football too; there’s no need to be ashamed to say so. It’s true that I’ve often heard players say they were suffering from depression and that fans or people on the outside didn’t understand because they were earning a lot of money. But no, that’s rubbish and you shouldn’t say that. Depression is personal; it’s deep inside you. When you’re depressed, it starts in the heart, goes up to the brain and takes over your whole body. For me, that’s what’s hard, and we need to talk about it” – the France and departing Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konaté opens up about the struggles he has faced during a year of personal tragedy in which the death of teammate Diogo Jota was followed by that of his father.Ibrahima Konaté also thanked Liverpool fans. 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