Injuries to some of soccer’s star players, including Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal, sparked concern ahead of the World Cup.
All three have been included in their national team squads for the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, but others have not been so fortunate.
France striker Hugo Ekitike sustained an Achilles injury in April that could take more than six months to heal, ruling him out of the World Cup and probably the start of next season with Liverpool.
Brazil stars Rodrygo and Éder Militão are out. So is Bayern Munich and Germany forward Serge Gnabry after injuring his adductor in training.
Messi caused the biggest scare after the Argentina great left the field injured while playing for Inter Miami last month. He has been included in coach Lionel Scaloni's squad as defending champion Argentina aims to retain its trophy, but it is still not known whether he has fully recovered from what was described as muscle fatigue.
Yamal, Spain's new superstar, missed the final weeks of the season for Barcelona because of a hamstring injury that made him fear he would miss out on his first World Cup.
“I remember the play in which I got injured,” he said. “I was praying inside for it not to be serious, for it to be a cramp or something like that, because I knew the World Cup was very close.”
Players and coaches have increasingly warned about the impact of an ever-packed schedule, and the expanded World Cup comes a year after the relaunched, supersized Club World Cup. The Champions League has also been expanded in recent years.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta describes the demand on players as “an accident waiting to happen."
Argentina: Joaquín Panichelli (ACL)
Brazil: Éder Militão (hamstring), Rodrygo (ACL)
England: Ben White (medial ligament)
France: Hugo Ekitike (Achilles)
Germany: Serge Gnabry (adductor)
Netherlands: Xavi Simons (ACL)
United States: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Achilles), Patrick Agyemang (Achilles), Johnny Cardoso (ankle)
Scotland: Billy Gilmour (knee)
Spain: Fermin Lopez (foot)
Argentina: How soon Messi will be involved is not known. Cristian Romero sustained a knee injury at the end of the season, but has been included in Argentina's squad.
Canada: Star left back Alphonso Davies injured his hamstring and it is not certain he will recover in time for his team's opening game against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Croatia: Veteran midfielder Luka Modrić broke his cheekbone in April. He was back playing for AC Milan well in time for the World Cup, but was wearing a protective face mask. Defender Joško Gvardiol returned to training for Manchester City in early May after four months out with a broken leg, but is going to the World Cup.
United States: Gio Reyna made just four league starts this season for Borussia Mönchengladbach, and none since Dec. 19. “He can help because he’s a different player, different talent, and I think in all the roster you need to have a player like him,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said.
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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