Arsenal: 4 players with 2022 World Cup dreams at risk

2. Martin Odegaard – Norway

There is the very real possibility that Martin Odegaard will miss out on captaining his country at the 2022 World Cup finals. A season that hasn’t been going quite the way he would have wanted has the potential to unravel is devastating fashion as far as his international duties are concerned.

Norway suffered a huge setback on matchday nine as they failed to score past a Latvia side who won only one of their eight previous matches in qualifying.

Boasting 73% possession and having 25 shots to Latvia’s six, the scenes at full-time told the story. Norway’s players dropped to the floor in despair. Dejected faces filled Ullevaal Stadion as everyone knew this 0-0 draw could spell the end of their World Cup dreams.

Indeed, Turkey’s 6-0 win over Gibraltar saw them move above Norway into second place on goal difference with both sides sitting on 18 points, while the Netherlands hold top spot with 20 points.

It is all still to play for in Group G, but Norway face the daunting task of having to travel to the Netherlands on the final matchday of the group. A draw could see them pinch second spot, but they will be relying on Turkey losing away to Montenegro, which they’re unlikely to do.

It would be a huge shock to see Norway miss out, with one of world football’s best players, Erling Haaland, in line for another omission from a major international competition after Norway also failed to qualify for the recent Euros. His Premier League form for Arsenal might not be great, but he’ll have to pull something out of the bag against the Netherlands.

Netherlands host Norway at 19:45 (GMT) on Tuesday, November 16.

Continued on next page…