All-star European XI World Cup absentees

The conclusion of last night's playoffs has resulted in the realisation that a number of players will be absent from next year's World Cup.

Below, Sports Mole has picked out what we believe is the best team of European footballers that will not be present when the sport's biggest international tournament gets underway in Brazil.

Petr Cech

Many still regard the Chelsea goalkeeper to be among the best in the world, but his Czech Republic side fell short in qualifying. They finished third behind group winners Italy and Denmark.

Lukasz Piszczek

Injury prevented the Borussia Dortmund full-back from helping Poland during the final few qualifiers as they ended up way down the standings behind England, Ukraine and Montenegro.

Daniel Agger

Liverpool may be pleased that their centre-back will be getting some rest next summer after Denmark failed to qualify, despite having finished runners-up to Italy. Their return of 16 points was the lowest of any nation that ended the campaign in second spot, meaning that they were omitted from the playoffs.

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Vlad Chiriches

The 24-year-old has impressed for Tottenham Hotspur this season, but he won't get the chance to do so in Brazil. Romania went into the playoffs, but they were defeated 4-2 on aggregate by Greece.

David Alaba

Bayern Munich's attacking full-back may have fancied Austria's chances of claiming the runners-up slot behind Germany, but they were pipped to the post by Sweden.

Andriy Yarmolenko

The sought-after winger looked to have booked Ukraine's place in Brazil when he put them 2-0 up against France. However, in the return leg, Les Bleus rallied and won through 3-0.

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Aaron Ramsey

Arguably Europe's most in-form midfielder at this moment in time will have to wait for his chance at a World Cup with Wales. The likes of Belgium, Croatia and Serbia all proved too strong as the Dragons finished second from bottom.

Marek Hamsik

Napoli's attack-minded midfielder captained Slovakia in South Africa three years ago, but they were well short this time around, finishing third and some 12 points off Greece in second.

Gareth Bale

The World Cup will not contain the globe's most expensive ever player. Just as with Ramsey, Bale was part of a Wales side that were inconsistent throughout qualifying.

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic

According to the Swedish captain himself: "One thing is for sure, a World Cup without me is nothing to watch." His country was defeated 4-2 on aggregate by Portugal.

Robert Lewandowski

Whichever club that Lewandowski is to join (he claims that he has already decided), they will benefit from him being fresh for the new campaign. He scored three goals during qualifying, but it couldn't propel Poland into the top two.