A history of Man Utd players in the FIFA World Cup play-offs

Sweden staged a shock success in the play-offs when a Jakob Johansson goal was enough to beat Italy over two legs and deny the Azzurri a place in the finals – the first occasion in which the four-time world champions had missed out on a World Cup place since 1958. Victor Lindelof, then in his debut season with United after joining from Benfica, played the full 180 minutes across the November 2017 tie, keeping Insigne, Immobile and co at bay. He was also a key protagonist in the dressing-room celebrations, joining forces with striker John Guidetti to shave off skipper Andreas Granqvist’s hair, after a promise made by the latter during the qualification campaign.

2022 

It has already been a year of mixed fortunes for our Reds who have competed in the play-off stage. In March, a Portugal group including Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes and Ronaldo secured a spot in this winter’s Qatar finals following a 2-0 victory over North Macedonia in which Fernandes netted both goals. Young Red Hannibal and his Tunisia side were also triumphant in booking their place at the tournament, after a 1-0 aggregate win against Mali. On the same evening, Sweden, of Lindelof and Anthony Elanga, unfortunately couldn’t repeat their aforementioned heroics, falling just short of a World Cup appearance as a result of a 2-0 defeat to Poland in their final. While on Wednesday evening, Scott McTominay’s Scotland tasted defeat in their delayed semi-final with Ukraine, setting up a winner-takes-all showdown between the latter and Levitt’s Wales on Sunday evening.