The promotion, present in Qatar: the 45 players who do not play in the First Division and will play in the World Cup

The start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is just around the corner. The 32 teams that will present in the maximum appointment have already announced their call-ups, and with the names of the protagonists already confirmed, several particularities stand out. From stars who will be without a World Cup due to injuries, to young players who will play in their first World Cup. In between, they peek 45 names that have a particularity.

First of all, it should be noted that 17 of the 32 teams that will participate in the World Cup complete their call-up with players from First Division leagues. The Argentina national team leads this list and, conversely, there are 15 other teams that have the presence of promotion players in their squads. Wales, for example, lists twelve footballers from the English rise.

“Dragons” lead the list, above one Selection from Australia which has seven players not playing first division leaguesand a selection from Senegal which is written with four names.

And among these twelve footballers, there are two who share a particularity: both Chris Gunter and Jonathan Williams, from Wales, They play Football League Two, which is the fourth tier of English football.

These two are the only footballers who play in the fourth division and will make the present in Qatar.

Gunter wears the colors of Wimbledon, and comes from integrating the substitute bench – without adding minutes – in the last two matches for Wales. Same case for Williams, a man from Swindon Town, who also didn’t see action in the last round of FIFA, where the ‘Dragons’ faced Belgium and Poland.

As for their calls, it should be noted that Chris Gunter has been a part of the process for more than a decade. The defender made his Welsh debut in 2007 and has since represented his country on more than 100 occasions. At 33, Gunter will play in his first World Cup, and there is speculation that he may add minutes as well.

On the other hand, Jonathan Williams made his Wales debut in March 2013, when he was still wearing Crystal Palace colors in the Premier League. After moving up to the top tier of English football, the midfielder had to try his luck in the British rise, and arrives at this World Cup with 33 games played for the Wales national team.

Like Gunter, Williams usually adds minutes as a substitute, so he dreams of seeing action in what will be his first World Cup.

The other 43 players from the promotion who will be in Qatar

Although Gunter and Williams are the only two footballers who play in the fourth division and will give the present in the lands of Qatar, many others will also play the World Cup playing for promotion clubs. In Wales, in fact, the summons of Matthew Smith and Joe Morrell, players from the Third Division of English football, who represent MK Dons and Portsmouth respectively, also stand out.

The ‘Dragons’, who occupy the top spot on the roster, also feature the following players: Adam Davies, Mark Harris, Tom Lockyer, Joe Allen, Sorba Thomas, Tyler Roberts, Rubin Colwill and Ben Cabango, all of them playing in the league EFL, second division of England. Some of them even tend to occupy a place in the starting eleven, which is why they are considered by coach Rob Page.

And when it comes to promotion footballers who will play in the World Cup, behind Wales, none other than Australia ticks. Playing for the ‘Socceroos’ are: Harry Souttar, Bailey Wright and Riley McGree, from the second tier of English football; Thomas Deng and Mitchell Duke, of Japan’s J2 League; Jackson Irvine, who wears the colors of St. Pauli in the German second division; and Fran Karacic, who plays for Brescia in Serie B in Italy.

Meanwhile, Senegal added Seny Dieng, Mamadou Loum and Iliman Ndiaye to the squad, all hailing from the EFL Championship in England. Furthermore, the coach Aliou Cissé has chosen to quote Formose Mendy, central defender with little experience but a good present, who defends the colors of Amiens SC in the French Second Division, and who made his debut in the Senegalese team just hand in hand with Cisse.

Furthermore, Tunisia have made the squad for Ali Abdi and Hannibal Mejbri, who play in promotion France and England respectively. Ghana did the same with Abdul Rahman Baba and Antoine Semenyo both in the EFL Championship. And the United States, which did not want to be outdone, have also turned the spotlight on the second category of English football, summoning Ethan Horvath and Josh Sargent.

Gaku Shibasaki and Ao Tanaka will represent Japan, one in the Spanish second division and the other in the German second division.

Poland, rivals of the Argentine national team in the group stage, also enters, with Kamil Glik from the Italian Serie B and Krystian Bielik, from the English promotion. Iran scores through Amir Abedzadeh from Spain’s second tier and Saeid Ezatolahi from Denmark’s 2nd division.

Africans, who are the majority in this ranking, continue to add names thanks to Ilias Chair and Walid Cheddira, who are fighting for the promotion of Italy and England, and will wear the colors of Morocco in Qatar 2022. A similar case is that of Cameroon, which will be attended by Gael Ondoua and Olivier Ntcham, one of them in Germany and the other in English football. Canada also eyed the league to add Junior Hoilett, and also surprised with Belgian second division Liam Fraser.

Now to start closing the tally, Costa Rica appear with Patrick Sequeira and Jewison Bennette, in Spain and England respectively. And the last two cases share a peculiarity: Both South Korea and Ecuador have a footballer who is fighting for his country’s promotion. The Asians score through Yu-min Cho, and Gustavo Alfaro’s side do the same including Imbabura SC’s Kevin Rodríguez.

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