Mohamed Salah became the latest player to suffer an injury just weeks before the World Cup, adding to the anguish for the team and supporters as Egypt return to the tournament after missing out on the tournament last time out.
Salah sustained a hamstring injury during Saturday’s English Premier League match between Liverpool and Crystal Palace, and Egypt’s top football boss has confirmed that Salah will miss the remainder of the club’s season.
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The Egyptian talisman is not the only player to take a hit ahead of the world championships, joining a growing list of key players who will spend the remainder of the club football season on the sidelines.
With the World Cup starting in Canada, Mexico and the United States in less than two months, several players are in a race against time to overcome injuries and prove their fitness.
Title contenders and former champions Spain, Brazil and Germany will be hoping that some of their key players will be recovered in time for the tournament to begin on June 11th.
Here are some of the big names who suffered injuries before the World Cup.
Mohamed Salah: Egypt
Liverpool’s Egyptian forward limped off the field after being substituted in a league match, clutching his hamstring and feeling pain.
Club manager Arne Slott declined to say whether Salah would miss the remainder of Liverpool’s season, but the national team director confirmed the 33-year-old will be out for four weeks.
“We’ll have to wait and see how his injury goes and see if he can come back to play,” Slott told reporters after the game.
“What I know about Mo is that he has taken such good care of his body all these years that the time he needs to recover from his injuries is minimal,” he added.
However, Egyptian football official Ibrahim Hassan confirmed that Salah’s club season is over.
“He has injured his hamstring and will need four weeks of treatment,” Hassan told Reuters.
Hassan said Salah would be fit for the World Cup, where they will face Egypt, Belgium, New Zealand and Iran in Group G.
Salah is no stranger to batting before the World Cup, having injured his shoulder before the 2018 Champions League final. Although he missed the Pharaohs’ opening game, he recovered for the remaining two games of the group stage and scored two goals in the season, which ended in the group stage.
Egypt at the 2026 World Cup: Belgium (June 15), New Zealand (June 21), Iran (June 26)
Lamine Yamal: Spain
All eyes are on the talented soccer player who has won numerous awards, but his World Cup debut is in doubt due to a hamstring injury in his left leg.
Barcelona have announced that Lamine Yamal’s season in Spain has come to an end, but the international forward should be fit to represent Spain at this summer’s World Cup.
The 18-year-old is on a “conservative treatment plan” and his recovery could take four to six weeks, so his participation is still in doubt.
Yamal was an integral part of Spain’s side, which clinched the Euro 2024 title with a 2-1 win over England. Just 16 years old at the time, he showed speed and cunning with the ball and became one of the hottest players in world football.
Spain squad for the 2026 World Cup: Cape Verde (June 15), Saudi Arabia (June 21), Uruguay (June 27)
Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Serge Gnabry: Germany
The 33-year-old Germany first-choice goalkeeper has spent more time recovering than playing this year after entering rehab after sustaining a serious hamstring injury in February.
German national team coach Julian Nagelsmann told Marc-Andre ter Stegen in March that his chances of playing for the national team were “very low” and that he needed to recover quickly for the tournament in June.
The four-time champions could rely on Oliver Baumann in Stegen’s absence.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Serge Gnabry announced on social media this week that he would “support the boys from home”. The 30-year-old suffered a torn adductor muscle in his right thigh, which has ruled him out for the remainder of Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga season.
Germany at the 2026 World Cup: Curacao (14 June), Ivory Coast (20 June), Ecuador (25 June)
Estebao, Rodrigo, Eder Militao: Brazil
Brazil international and Chelsea forward Estevao has also been ruled out for the rest of the Premier League season after suffering a hamstring injury and crying as he was sent off the pitch.
Chelsea caretaker manager Callum Macfarlane has expressed his hope that the 19-year-old will join the Brazil squad, but warned there are still no guarantees.
Estevao joined Chelsea from Palmeiras last year and has scored eight goals this season. He has scored five goals in his last six international appearances and was expected to be included in manager Carlo Ancelotti’s World Cup squad.
Unlike Estevao, Brazilian forward Rodrygo has been definitively ruled out of the World Cup squad due to a torn meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in his right knee.
“One of the worst days of my life. How much I always feared this injury,” the 25-year-old wrote in a social media post after the March setback.
Rodrigo played five games for Brazil at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
A further blow to Brazil came as Eder Militao suffered a hamstring injury during Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over Deportivo Alavés.
The 28-year-old defender is scheduled to undergo surgery and reports say he will miss the World Cup in Brazil, as previously expected.
Brazil squad at 2026 World Cup: Morocco (June 13), Haiti (June 19), Scotland (June 24)
Hugo Equitique: France
French striker Hugo Ekitike was also ruled out of the World Cup after rupturing his Achilles tendon in the Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in April.
He recently underwent surgery and Liverpool manager Arne Slott said the surgery went well, but the 23-year-old’s recovery and return to the pitch could take until 2027.
France squad at the 2026 World Cup: Senegal (16 June), Iraq (22 June), Norway (26 June)
Wataru Endo and Takumi Minamino: Japan
A question mark remains over the availability of Japan captain and Liverpool defender Wataru Endo, who has not played since sustaining an ankle injury at Sunderland in February. Liverpool boss Slott recently provided an update, saying the 33-year-old midfielder could return in time for the end of the season.
Teammate Takumi Minamino is in the same situation after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in December.
Japan at the 2026 World Cup: Netherlands (June 14), Tunisia (June 20), Sweden (June 25)
