Mohamed Salah has become the latest player to sustain an injury weeks ahead of the World Cup, adding to his team\u2019s and supporters\u2019 woes as Egypt return to the tournament after missing out on the previous edition.<\/p>\n
Salah suffered a hamstring injury during Liverpool\u2019s 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\u2019s season.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n The Egyptian talisman is not the only player to have suffered a blow ahead of the global tournament, and joins an increasing list of major players spending the rest of the club football season on the sidelines.<\/p>\n With the World Cup kicking off in less than two months in Canada, Mexico and the United States, several players find themselves in a race against time to overcome injuries and prove their fitness.<\/p>\n Title contenders and former champions Spain, Brazil and Germany will be among those hoping some of their key players recover in time for the tournament, which begins on June 11.<\/p>\n Here are some of the big names who have sustained injuries ahead of the World Cup:<\/p>\n The Egyptian and Liverpool forward was in pain as he limped off the field and held his hamstring after being substituted in the league game.<\/p>\n While his club manager Arne Slot refused to say whether Salah would miss the rest of Liverpool\u2019s season, his national team\u2019s director confirmed that the 33-year-old will be out for four weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to wait and see how his injury is and if he is able to return to play,\u201d Slot told reporters after the match.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat 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,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n However, Egyptian football official Ibrahim Hassan confirmed that Salah\u2019s club season was over.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has suffered a hamstring tear and will require four weeks of treatment,\u201d Hassan told the Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n Hassan said Salah would be fit for the World Cup, where Egypt face Belgium, New Zealand and Iran in Group G.<\/p>\n Salah is no stranger to pre-World Cup blows, having injured his shoulder before the 2018 edition in the Champions League final. He missed the Pharaohs\u2019 opening game, but recovered for the remaining two group matches and scored two goals in a campaign that ended at the group stage.<\/p>\n Egypt at World Cup 2026:<\/strong> Belgium (June 15), New Zealand (June 21), Iran (June 26)<\/p>\n All eyes will be on the award-winning football prodigy, but his World Cup debut has been thrown into doubt after a hamstring injury in his left leg (biceps femoris muscle).<\/p>\n Barcelona announced that Lamine Yamal\u2019s domestic season in Spain is over, but the international forward should be fit to represent Spain at this summer\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n The 18-year-old\u2019s participation is still doubtful since it could take four to six weeks to recover as he follows a \u201cconservative treatment plan\u201d.<\/p>\n Yamal was an integral part of the Spain side that lifted the Euro 2024 title with their 2-1 win against England. Then just 16 years of age, he showed speed and guile on the ball that marked him as one of the hottest properties in global football.<\/p>\n Spain at World Cup 2026:<\/strong> Cape Verde (June 15), Saudi Arabia (June 21), Uruguay (June 27)<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n German national team coach Julian Nagelsmann told Marc-Andre ter Stegen in March that his chances of playing for the national side were \u201cvery slim\u201d and that he had to speed up his recovery to be fit for the tournament in June.<\/p>\n The four-time champions could rely on Oliver Baumann in Stegen\u2019s absence.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Germany\u2019s Serge Gnabry took to social media this week to announce he would be \u201csupporting the boys from home\u201d. The 30-year-old suffered a torn adductor muscle in his right thigh that also ruled him out of Bayern Munich\u2019s remaining Bundesliga season.<\/p>\n Germany at World Cup 2026:<\/strong> Curacao (June 14), Ivory Coast (June 20), Ecuador (June 25)<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Chelsea\u2019s interim coach Calum McFarlane expressed his hope for the 19-year-old to make it to the Brazilian squad, though he cautioned there was no guarantee yet.<\/p>\n Estevao joined Chelsea from Palmeiras last year and has scored eight goals this season. He was expected to be part of Carlo Ancelotti\u2019s squad for the World Cup after scoring five times in his last six international appearances.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the worst days of my life, how much I always feared this injury,\u201d the 25-year-old wrote in a social media post after the setback in March.<\/p>\n Rodrygo made five appearances for Brazil at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.<\/p>\n Yet another blow to Brazil comes from a hamstring injury sustained by Eder Militao during Real Madrid\u2019s 2\u20131 win over Deportivo Alaves.<\/p>\n The 28-year-old defender is set to undergo surgery, and according to reports, will not be available for Brazil\u2019s World Cup campaign as previously expected.<\/p>\n Brazil at World Cup 2026:<\/strong> Morocco (June 13), Haiti (June 19), Scotland (June 24)<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n France at World Cup 2026:<\/strong> Senegal (June 16), Iraq (June 22), Norway (June 26)<\/p>\n A question mark lingers over the participation of Japan captain and Liverpool defender Wataru Endo, who has not played since sustaining an ankle injury at Sunderland in February. Liverpool manager Slot recently provided an update, saying the 33-year-old midfielder may return just in time for the end of the season.<\/p>\n Teammate Takumi Minamino is also in the same situation after rupturing his ACL in December.<\/p>\n Japan at World Cup 2026:<\/strong> Netherlands (June 14), Tunisia (June 20), Sweden (June 25)<\/p>\n Mohamed Salah has become the latest player to sustain an injury weeks ahead of the World Cup, adding to his team\u2019s and supporters\u2019 woes as Egypt return to the tournament after missing out on the previous edition. Salah suffered a hamstring injury during Liverpool\u2019s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace in the English Premier League on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
Mohamed Salah: Egypt<\/h2>\n
Lamine Yamal: Spain<\/h2>\n
Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Serge Gnabry: Germany<\/h2>\n
![\"INTERACTIVE-Football](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/INTERACTIVE-Football-FIFA-Teams-that-have-qualified-for-the-World-Cup-2026-1776671102.png?quality=80\")
Estevao, Rodrygo and Eder Militao: Brazil<\/h2>\n
Hugo Ekitike: France<\/h2>\n
Wataru Endo and Takumi Minamino: Japan<\/h2>\n
![\"INTERACTIVE-Football](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/INTERACTIVE-Football-FIFA-World-Cup-2026-group-stage-schedule-1776670775.png?quality=80\")
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