The World Cup has entered its most exciting stage so far: the knockout rounds. With the opening match ending in Canada’s win over South Africa, many teams are now making their final adjustments to avoid going home before reaching the final.
However, MLS had a record 45 players called up for this tournament, and several of them have already packed their bags and headed home.
Join us to know which countries and MLS players were eliminated from the World Cup. This listing is after South Africa's elimination from the tournament.
These are the countries and MLS players who have gone home
South Africa
- Olwethu Makhanya - Philadelphia Union
- Mbekezeli Mbokazi - Chicago Fire
After their loss against the Canadian soccer team, the AFCON team said goodbye to the most prestigious soccer tournament. With a performance outside of expectations, South Africa managed to qualify for the next round after suffering on their debut.
South Korea
- Heung-Min Son
The truth is that South Korea failed to live up to expectations. Many people, myself included, expected them to finish at least second in the group, if not first. Instead, they entered the final group-stage match fighting to stay alive, but South Africa got the better of them and claimed the qualification spot.
Haití
- Louicius Deedson - FC Dallas
- Derrick Etienne Jr. - Toronto FC
- Danley Jean Jacques - Philadelphia Union
Haiti exceeded almost everyone's expectations, especially compared to South Korea. However, it still was not enough to reach the knockout stage. Even so, its performance against Morocco will be remembered as one of the country's greatest achievements on the World Cup stage.
Tunisia
- Rayan Elloumi - Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Tunisia indeed got the death group with Japan, the Netherlands, and Sweden. However, the team couldn’t get a point, leaving much to be desired about their World Cup participation.
Uruguay
- Juan Manuel Sanabria - Real Salt Lake
Uruguay's performance was one of the biggest disappointments of the tournament. Drawn into what appeared to be an accessible group, most expected La Celeste to finish behind Spain and comfortably reach the knockout stage.
Instead, Marcelo Bielsa's side finished with two draws and one defeat, returning home with far more questions than answers after a World Cup campaign to forget.
Irak
- Ahmed Qasem - Nashville SC
Just like Tunisia, Iraq suffered the cruelty of being drawn into a group with three strong national teams: Norway, Senegal, and France. That made an early elimination feel almost inevitable before the tournament even started, although Iraq still managed to deliver a respectable performance considering the level of its opponents.
Panama
- Anibal Godoy - San Diego FC
- Carlos Harvey - Minnesota United FC
Another example of a team that had a rough group. In the preview, Panama was seen as the weakest in a group with England, Croatia, and Ghana. Unfortunately, that was the case. Nonetheless, for the Panamanians, simply qualifying for this World Cup is seen as an achievement.
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