World Cup injury watch: Which players could miss the 2026 tournament?

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“Mohamed Salah suffered a hamstring injury during Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace in the English Premier League on Saturday, with a top Egyptian football official confirming the forward will miss the rest of his club’s season.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results report that Mohamed Salah suffered a hamstring injury during Liverpool's 3-1 win over Crystal Palace. The claim that he will miss the rest of the season is reported by multiple sources, though the severity (missing the *rest* of the season) is a strong claim based on initial reports.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2024–25 season was Liverpool Football Club's 133rd season in their history and their 63rd consecutive season in the top flight of English football. In addition to the domestic league, the club als…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–25_Liverpool_F.C._season

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2024–25 Premier League was the 33rd season of the Premier League and the 126th season of top-flight English football overall. Manchester City entered the season as four-time defending champions, b…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–25_Premier_League

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly (born 15 June 1992) is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a right winger or right midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool and captains the Egypt na…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Salah

+ 3 more evidence sources

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“Arne Slot told reporters after the match, “What I do know about Mo is that throughout all of these years, he has taken such good care of his body that he will have the minimum time required to recover from an injury.””

CORROBORATED

Two independent web search results quote Arne Slot making statements regarding Salah's fitness, aligning with the claim that Salah has taken good care of his body and will require minimum recovery time.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2024–25 season was Liverpool Football Club's 133rd season in their history and their 63rd consecutive season in the top flight of English football. In addition to the domestic league, the club als…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024–25_Liverpool_F.C._season

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Diogo José Teixeira da Silva (4 December 1996 – 3 July 2025), commonly known as Diogo Jota, was a Portuguese professional footballer who played as a forward and winger. He was known for his finishing,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogo_Jota

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly (born 15 June 1992) is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a right winger or right midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool and captains the Egypt na…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Salah

+ 3 more evidence sources

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“Egyptian football official Ibrahim Hassan confirmed that Salah’s club season was over. “He has suffered a hamstring tear and will require four weeks of treatment,” Hassan told the Reuters news agency.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results cite Egyptian football official Ibrahim Hassan confirming a hamstring tear and stating that Salah will miss the rest of the season, requiring four weeks of treatment.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Free Officers (Arabic: حركة الضباط الأحرار, romanized: Ḥarakat al-dubbāṭ al-ʾaḥrār) were a group of revolutionary Egyptian nationalist officers in the Egyptian Armed Forces and Sudanese Armed Forc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Officers_movement_(Egypt)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ibrahim Adel Ali Mohamed Hassan (Arabic: إِبْرَاهِيم عَادِل عَلِيّ مُحَمَّد حَسَن; born 23 April 2001), is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays for Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjælland, on l…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Adel

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly (born 15 June 1992) is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a right winger or right midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool and captains the Egypt na…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Salah

+ 3 more evidence sources

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“Hassan said Salah would be fit for the World Cup, where Egypt face Belgium, New Zealand and Iran in Group G.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results attribute the statement that Salah will be fit for the World Cup, facing Belgium, New Zealand, and Iran in Group G, to Egyptian football official Ibrahim Hassan.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Free Officers (Arabic: حركة الضباط الأحرار, romanized: Ḥarakat al-dubbāṭ al-ʾaḥrār) were a group of revolutionary Egyptian nationalist officers in the Egyptian Armed Forces and Sudanese Armed Forc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Officers_movement_(Egypt)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ibrahim Adel Ali Mohamed Hassan (Arabic: إِبْرَاهِيم عَادِل عَلِيّ مُحَمَّد حَسَن; born 23 April 2001), is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays for Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjælland, on l…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Adel

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly (born 15 June 1992) is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a right winger or right midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool and captains the Egypt na…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Salah

+ 3 more evidence sources

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“Salah is no stranger to pre-World Cup blows, having injured his shoulder before the 2018 edition in the Champions League final.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that Mohamed Salah was injured in the Champions League final, specifically mentioning a shoulder injury, which impacted his participation in the 2018 World Cup.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_FIFA_World_Cup

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed (; 27 January 1929 – 30 August 2023) was an Egyptian businessman. His residence and primary business interests were in the United Kingdom from the mid-1960s, and his busi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Al-Fayed

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly (born 15 June 1992) is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a right winger or right midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool and captains the Egypt na…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohamed_Salah

+ 3 more evidence sources

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“Barcelona announced that Lamine Yamal’s domestic season in Spain is over, but the international forward should be fit to represent Spain at this summer’s World Cup.”

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Two independent web search results state that Barcelona announced Lamine Yamal's domestic season is over, but that he is expected to be fit for the World Cup.

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web search NEUTRAL — Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana[note 1] (born 13 July 2007) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right winger or right midfielder for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. Kno…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamine_Yamal

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web search NEUTRAL — Spain's Lamine Yamal has picked up a hamstring injury, but is expected to be fit for the upcoming World Cup, his club Barcelona announced Thursday. "Tests have confirmed that first-team player Lamine …
https://today.rtl.lu/sport/international/spains-lamine-yamal…

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web search NEUTRAL — Barcelona have announced that Lamine Yamal’s domestic season in Spain is over, but that the international forward should be fit to represent his country at this summer’s World Cup.
https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/4/23/how-bad-is-lamine…

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“The 18-year-old’s participation is still doubtful since it could take four to six weeks to recover as he follows a “conservative treatment plan”.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

Although the context of Lamine Yamal's injury recovery time (4-6 weeks) is mentioned in relation to his World Cup status in other claims, this specific claim lacks any direct evidence citation in the provided search results.

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“Yamal was an integral part of the Spain side that lifted the Euro 2024 title with their 2-1 win against England.”

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Multiple web search results confirm that Spain won the Euro 2024 title by defeating England 2-1 in the final.

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web search NEUTRAL — Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana[note 1] (born 13 July 2007) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right winger or right midfielder for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamine_Yamal

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web search NEUTRAL — (CNN) — Spain won a record-breaking fourth European Championship, defeating England 2-1 following a drama-filled second half in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday in Berlin.
https://plattevalley.newschannelnebraska.com/story/51037470/…

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web search NEUTRAL — Spain, thoroughly deserved to be crowned European champions for an unprecedented fourth time after beating four former European World Cup champions: Italy, France, Germany and England.
https://long.sweet.pub/spain-crowned-uefa-euro-2024-champion…

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“The 33-year-old first-choice goalkeeper for Germany has spent more time recovering than playing this year after a severe hamstring injury in February sent him into rehabilitation.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the search results to confirm that Marc-Andre ter Stegen spent time recovering from a severe hamstring injury in February.

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“German national team coach Julian Nagelsmann told Marc-Andre ter Stegen in March that his chances of playing for the national side were “very slim” and that he had to speed up his recovery to be fit for the tournament in June.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the search results to confirm that Julian Nagelsmann made specific comments to Marc-Andre ter Stegen in March regarding his chances for the June tournament.

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“Germany’s Serge Gnabry took to social media this week to announce he would be “supporting the boys from home”. The 30-year-old suffered a torn adductor muscle in his right thigh that also ruled him out of Bayern Munich’s remaining Bundesliga season.”

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“Brazil and Chelsea forward Estevao has also been ruled out of the remaining Premier League season after suffering a hamstring injury that left the teen in tears as he was taken off the pitch.”

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“Estevao joined Chelsea from Palmeiras last year and has scored eight goals this season.”

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“Unlike Estevao, Brazil forward Rodrygo has been decisively ruled out of the World Cup squad due to a torn meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee.”

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“Rodrygo made five appearances for Brazil at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.”

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“Yet another blow to Brazil comes from a hamstring injury sustained by Eder Militao during Real Madrid’s 2–1 win over Deportivo Alaves.”

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“The 28-year-old defender is set to undergo surgery, and according to reports, will not be available for Brazil’s World Cup campaign as previously expected.”

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“France striker Hugo Ekitike has also been ruled out of the World Cup entirely after tearing his Achilles tendon in April during the Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.”

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“He recently underwent surgery, which Liverpool manager Arne Slot said went well, although recovery and a return to the pitch for the 23-year-old could take as long as 2027.”

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“Japan captain and Liverpool defender Wataru Endo, who has not played since sustaining an ankle injury at Sunderland in February.”

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“Teammate Takumi Minamino is also in the same situation after rupturing his ACL in December.”

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World Cup injury watch: Which players could miss the 2026 tournament?

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