The World Cup is just around the corner. And while excitement is building ahead of the tournament, fans from all participating countries have often held their breath in recent weeks whenever a big star has been injured.
With the tournament still a month and a half away, even minor injuries can be fatal to an individual’s chances of playing this summer.
First on the list is Brazilian and Real Madrid player Rodrygo. He suffered a ligament tear in early March and will be out of action until at least October of this year.
In addition to Rodrygo, there is also his clubmate, Eder Militao, who will miss the World Cup due to muscle surgery, and is also expected to be out until October.
A particularly serious injury for the Dutch national team is that of midfielder Xavi Simons. He tore ligaments in the match between Tottenham and Wolves, and this and most of next season are over for him.
Meanwhile, Hugo Ekitike will miss the World Cup. He suffered an Achilles tendon injury in April and will not play until the end of this year.
He is playing brilliantly for Liverpool this year, scoring 17 goals.
Germany enter the World Cup with question marks over how they will score in North America, and Julian Nagelsmann was hoping Serge Gnabry would play a key role in Die Mannschaft’s attack, having scored in four of his last seven games.
However, after a strong season at Bayern, where he excelled in the ‘number 10’ position behind a front line consisting of Oliseh, Kane and Luis Diaz, achieving a double-digit performance in both goals and assists, he suffered a hamstring tear in training in April.
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This means that, just like in 2018, he will not be eligible for selection.
It should be added here that Lamine Yamal’s presence for Spain is also in question. Specifically, he was injured in the last round of La Liga for Barcelona and the first predictions say that he will miss at least two group stage matches at the World Cup.
