Footballers knocked out of World Cup are going on holiday with friends and family… in Dubai 

Dubai has emerged as a favourite winter holiday destination for footballers whose teams have been knocked out of the World Cup – or who never qualified at all.

While the eyes of the world are on Qatar, stars not involved in the showpiece have headed out to the neighbouring Emirate city for a cheeky holiday, making the most of the unprecedented mid-season break.

Welsh forward Brennan Johnson, 21, fresh from his country’s disappointing exit in the group stages after being beaten by England and Iran, posted selfies of himself inside his Dubai hotel and also in the state’s plush shopping malls.

The Nottingham Forest star is expected to join up with his club team-mates who are on a training camp in Greece.

Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell, 25, used his break in Dubai to recover from injury and work on his latest romance, reported to be Australian influencer Cartia Mallan, 24 

Aston Villa’s Polish defender Jan Bednarek, 26, and his glamorous wife Julia, 25, flew to Dubai straight after France ended his country’s World Cup hopes in their last 32 fixture on Sunday.

He’s believed to have been joined on the jaunt by his teammate, former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny, 32, and his pop star wife Marina, 33.

Germany’s Mario Gotze, 30, who scored the winner in the World Cup final eight yeras ago, and his model wife Ann-Kathrin, 33, were also seen recovering from his World Cup heartache in Dubai.

Also there have been some big names whose national sides never qualified – or who were injured and missed out.

Manchester City striker Irling Haaland, 22, was pictured in Dubai this week meeting up with PrettyLittleThing owner Umar Kamani in his luxurious mansion.

The Premier League hitman missed out of the World Cup after his native Norway failed to qualify, but City boss Pep Guardiola may see that as a blessing, given his star forward would have enjoyed a rest before the season gets underway on Boxing Day.

Welsh forward Brennan Johnson, 21, fresh from his country’s disappointing exit in the group stages after being beaten by England and Iran, posted selfies of himself inside his Dubai hotel and also in the state’s plush shopping malls

Manchester City striker Irling Haaland, 22, was pictured in Dubai this week meeting up with PrettyLittleThing owner Umar Kamani in his luxurious mansion

Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell, 25, used his break in Dubai to recover from injury and work on his latest romance, reported to be Australian influencer Cartia Mallan, 24.

The pair have grown close over the past few months and the left-back flew out to see him on his holiday, before he joined up with his Chelsea team-mates on their week-long training camp in Abu Dhabi.

Former England midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, 29, also flew to Dubai to help aid a recovery from his latest injury setback, plus spent some valuable family time with wife, Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards, 29, and their 15-month-old son Axel.

Perrie posted snaps of the trio attending a day at the funfair, writing on Instagram ‘Memories with my little family’.

Dubai hasn’t just acted as a timely holiday for footballers not in World Cup action, stars eliminated from the tournament have also been heading over.

The couple, who married in 2018, heavily documented their trip on Ann-Kathrin’s social media, which included a number of bikini pictures of German WAG.

Meanwhile, Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtiois, 30, went against the grain by opting for the Maldives as his destination of choice to get over his World Cup woes.

The Real Madrid star and his model wife Mishel Gerzig, 25, posted snaps from their exotic hotel room as well as the resort’s gym, captioning the picture: ‘Couple work out.’

The highly-fancied Belgians didn’t even make it out for her group stages, sparking boss Roberto Martinez to quit after more than six years in charge.