The 2022 FIFA World Cup is fast approaching as fans and players alike gear up for the global carnival.

With the Qatar showpiece set to be hosted in the latter weeks of the year, fans have been made to wait even longer than usual for football's biggest party.

For northern-hemisphere fans in particular, the prospect of a winter World Cup will take some getting used to but, should their teams go deep in the cup, they may begin to care less and less.

The World Cup can absolutely make or break a player, with some of the greatest legends of our game using the tournament as the ultimate proving ground.

From Zinedine Zidane to Ronaldinho, Denis Bergkamp to Ronaldo Nazario, we have been truly blessed to see some spectacular footballers in action at the World Cup.

There are, however, some bona-fide superstars who, for one reason or another, have never taken part in FIFA's global showpiece

XI of the best players to never play in the World Cup

From an extensive list, we've gone ahead and picked an XI made up from some of the best players to have watched the World Cup from a distance.

GK: Neville Southall

Described as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation, Southall was part of Welsh team that failed to qualify for the World Cup during his playing days.

DEF: Chritian Chivu
DEF: Sami Hyypia
DEF: Lee Dixon

Lee Dixon - Arsenal

Lee Dixon - Arsenal

A very handy defensive line-up indeed.

Hyypia enjoys cult-hero status in Liverpool for good reason while the likes of Chivu - who won three Serie A titles and the Champions League - and Lee Dixon complete what would be a stubborn triumvirate.

MID: Bernd Schuster
MID: George Weah
MID:George Best
MID: David Ginola

George Best

Northern Irish footballer George Best (1946 - 2005) of Manchester United FC, UK, November 1967. (Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

With Ballon d'Or winners and near-mythical levels legends in the engine room, this midfield would be absolute envy of any side in the game.

Just imagine the likes of Best linking up Weah, it would simply be unfair.

Image: The Best XI of players to have never played in the FIFA World Cup

FW: Eric Cantona
FW: Dimitar Berbatov
FW: Alfredo Di Stefano

Alfredo Di Stefano has long been regarded as on of Real Madrid's greatest ever players and it feels almost criminal that he never took part in the World Cup.

Partnering him the mercurial genius of Cantona and Berbatov would be a recipe for some of the sauciest football you could possibly imagine.