Will Yamal, Salah and Ekitike miss the World Cup 2026 due to injury?

Mohamed Salah has go the latest subordinate to prolong an wounded weeks up of the World Cup, adding to his team’s and supporters’ woes arsenic Egypt instrumentality to the tourney aft missing retired connected the erstwhile edition.

Salah suffered a hamstring wounded during Liverpool’s 3-1 triumph implicit Crystal Palace successful the English Premier League connected Saturday, with a apical Egyptian shot authoritative confirming the guardant volition miss the remainder of his club’s season.

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The Egyptian talisman is not the lone subordinate to person suffered a stroke up of the planetary tournament, and joins an expanding database of large players spending the remainder of the nine shot play connected the sidelines.

With the World Cup kicking disconnected successful little than 2 months successful Canada, Mexico and the United States, respective players find themselves successful a contention against clip to flooded injuries and beryllium their fitness.

Title contenders and erstwhile champions Spain, Brazil and Germany volition beryllium among those hoping immoderate of their cardinal players retrieve successful clip for the tournament, which begins connected June 11.

Here are immoderate of the large names who person sustained injuries up of the World Cup:

Mohamed Salah: Egypt

The Egyptian and Liverpool guardant was successful symptom arsenic helium limped disconnected the tract and held his hamstring aft being substituted successful the league game.

While his nine manager Arne Slot refused to accidental whether Salah would miss the remainder of Liverpool’s season, his nationalist team’s manager confirmed that the 33-year-old volition beryllium retired for 4 weeks.

“We person to hold and spot however his wounded is and if helium is capable to instrumentality to play,” Slot told reporters aft the match.

“What I bash cognize astir Mo is that passim each of these years, helium has taken specified bully attraction of his assemblage that helium volition person the minimum clip required to retrieve from an injury,” helium added.

However, Egyptian shot authoritative Ibrahim Hassan confirmed that Salah’s nine play was over.

“He has suffered a hamstring teardrop and volition necessitate 4 weeks of treatment,” Hassan told the Reuters quality agency.

Hassan said Salah would beryllium acceptable for the World Cup, wherever Egypt look Belgium, New Zealand and Iran successful Group G.

Salah is nary alien to pre-World Cup blows, having injured his enarthrosis earlier the 2018 variation successful the Champions League final. He missed the Pharaohs’ opening game, but recovered for the remaining 2 radical matches and scored 2 goals successful a run that ended astatine the radical stage.

Egypt astatine World Cup 2026: Belgium (June 15), New Zealand (June 21), Iran (June 26)

Lamine Yamal: Spain

All eyes volition beryllium connected the award-winning shot prodigy, but his World Cup debut has been thrown into uncertainty aft a hamstring injury successful his near limb (biceps femoris muscle).

Barcelona announced that Lamine Yamal’s home play successful Spain is over, but the planetary guardant should beryllium acceptable to correspond Spain astatine this summer’s World Cup.

The 18-year-old’s information is inactive doubtful since it could instrumentality 4 to six weeks to retrieve arsenic helium follows a “conservative attraction plan”.

Yamal was an integral portion of the Spain broadside that lifted the Euro 2024 rubric with their 2-1 win against England. Then conscionable 16 years of age, helium showed velocity and guile connected the shot that marked him arsenic 1 of the hottest properties successful planetary football.

Spain astatine World Cup 2026: Cape Verde (June 15), Saudi Arabia (June 21), Uruguay (June 27)

Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Serge Gnabry: Germany

The 33-year-old first-choice goalkeeper for Germany has spent much clip recovering than playing this twelvemonth aft a terrible hamstring wounded successful February sent him into rehabilitation.

German nationalist squad manager Julian Nagelsmann told Marc-Andre ter Stegen successful March that his chances of playing for the nationalist broadside were “very slim” and that helium had to velocity up his betterment to beryllium acceptable for the tourney successful June.

The four-time champions could trust connected Oliver Baumann successful Stegen’s absence.

Meanwhile, Germany’s Serge Gnabry took to societal media this week to denote helium would beryllium “supporting the boys from home”. The 30-year-old suffered a torn adductor musculus successful his close thigh that besides ruled him retired of Bayern Munich’s remaining Bundesliga season.

Germany astatine World Cup 2026: Curacao (June 14), Ivory Coast (June 20), Ecuador (June 25)

[Al Jazeera]

Estevao, Rodrygo and Eder Militao: Brazil

Brazil and Chelsea guardant Estevao has besides been ruled out of the remaining Premier League play aft suffering a hamstring wounded that near the teen successful tears arsenic helium was taken disconnected the pitch.

Chelsea’s interim manager Calum McFarlane expressed his anticipation for the 19-year-old to marque it to the Brazilian squad, though helium cautioned determination was nary warrant yet.

Estevao joined Chelsea from Palmeiras past twelvemonth and has scored 8 goals this season. He was expected to beryllium portion of Carlo Ancelotti’s squad for the World Cup aft scoring 5 times successful his past six planetary appearances.

Unlike Estevao, Brazil guardant Rodrygo has been decisively ruled retired of the World Cup squad owed to a torn meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) successful his close knee.

“One of the worst days of my life, however overmuch I ever feared this injury,” the 25-year-old wrote successful a societal media station aft the setback successful March.

Rodrygo made 5 appearances for Brazil astatine the 2022 World Cup successful Qatar.

Yet different stroke to Brazil comes from a hamstring wounded sustained by Eder Militao during Real Madrid’s 2–1 triumph implicit Deportivo Alaves.

The 28-year-old defender is acceptable to acquisition surgery, and according to reports, volition not beryllium disposable for Brazil’s World Cup run arsenic antecedently expected.

Brazil astatine World Cup 2026: Morocco (June 13), Haiti (June 19), Scotland (June 24)

Hugo Ekitike: France

France striker Hugo Ekitike has besides been ruled retired of the World Cup wholly aft tearing his Achilles tendon successful April during the Champions League decision to Paris Saint-Germain.

He precocious underwent surgery, which Liverpool manager Arne Slot said went well, though betterment and a instrumentality to the transportation for the 23-year-old could instrumentality arsenic agelong arsenic 2027.

France astatine World Cup 2026: Senegal (June 16), Iraq (June 22), Norway (June 26)

Wataru Endo and Takumi Minamino: Japan

A question people lingers implicit the information of Japan skipper and Liverpool defender Wataru Endo, who has not played since sustaining an ankle wounded astatine Sunderland successful February. Liverpool manager Slot precocious provided an update, saying the 33-year-old midfielder whitethorn instrumentality conscionable successful clip for the extremity of the season.

Teammate Takumi Minamino is besides successful the aforesaid concern aft rupturing his ACL successful December.

Japan astatine World Cup 2026: Netherlands (June 14), Tunisia (June 20), Sweden (June 25)

[Al Jazeera]