Staying home.

Gareth Bale, Arjen Robben, Alexis Sanchez and Jan Oblak are among a number of football superstars who will miss the 2018 World Cup in Russia after Wales, the Netherlands, Chile and Slovenia failed to qualify for the showpiece tournament.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have steered their countries into the World Cup next summer but there are plenty of big name players who have missed out.

Here, Eric Nicolson looks at the stars who won’t have the chance to shine in Russia:

Jan Oblak (Slovenia/Atletico Madrid): voted the best goalkeeper in La Liga for the past two years, Scotland fans will know all about the 24-year-old. Mind you, he wasn’t as impressive as Slovakia’s Martin Dubravka at Hampden last Thursday.

Arjen Robben (Netherlands/ Bayern Munich): the Netherlands have fallen from a far greater height than Scotland and have several players who could be described as world class. Robben and several of his countrymen will be missed.

David Alaba (Austria/Bayern Munich): a winner of six Bundesliga titles and the Champions League, Alaba’s international career has been less illustrious with Austria’s abysmal Euro 2016 campaign his only experience of a major tournament.

Naby Keita (Guinea/RB Leipzig): the Liverpool-bound midfielder will be fresh when he arrives at Anfield next summer after Guinea could not qualify from a group containing Tunisia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Libya.

Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez (Chile/Bayern Munich and Arsenal): it is the end of an era for the best Chile team anyone can remember. They suffered last-minute heartbreak as they were pushed out of a play-off place when Peru equalised against Colombia, meaning the Arsenal star will have more time to secure his move away from the Emirates.

Gareth Bale (Wales/Real Madrid): it must have been torture for Bale to sit in the stand as his Welsh team-mates couldn’t get the job done against Ireland in his absence. There’s a chance he may join the likes of Ian Rush, Mark Hughes and Ryan Giggs in never playing at a World Cup.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon/Borussia Dortmund): Gabon have never qualified for the World Cup and the African country’s shortage of top-class players means Aubameyang, one of the best centre-forwards around, may never have the opportunity to play at one.

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