The World Cup Qatar 2022 is approaching and this is good news for all football fans, but also a problem for football players who are injured and in a race against time in their recovery periods to try to be part of the tournament they qualified for with their national team.
Which footballers could miss the Qatar 2022 World Cup due to injury?
Qatar 2022 World Cup casualties confirmed
- Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands): The Dutch midfielder who played at the 2014 World Cup and played 86 games for his national team will not be able to be in Qatar 2022. At the end of August the Roma footballer suffered a fracture of tibia of right leg which prevents you from recovering in time.
- João Rojas (Ecuador): The forward of Raya de Monterrey suffered it rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament of the left knee at the end of July 2022 and that is why he will not be able to play in Gustavo Alfaro’s team: at 25 he has eight games with the Ecuador National Team and was a starter in a qualifying match in March.
- Tarik Tissoudali (Morocco): One of the strikers that Morocco could rely on for the World Cup will not be here, as Tisoudali the anterior cruciate ligament of the right knee was torn at the end of July. Born in the Netherlands, Gent’s Belgium international made just six appearances for Morocco but had scored two key goals in the final stage of the Qualifiers in March 2022.
- Diego Carlos (Brazil): The former Sevilla defender, now at Aston Villa who paid 31 million euros for his signature, has not yet made his debut with the Brazilian National Team, but he was already called up at the end of 2020 and was an Olympic champion in 2021. Due to his big level he could fight for a place at the World Cup, but he barely managed to play two games in the Premier League: he suffered Achilles tendon rupture in left leg in mid-August.
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Soccer players in doubt for Qatar 2022 World Cup
- Ronald Araujo (Uruguay): The Barcelona defender, with 12 caps for Uruguay, suffered a abduction in the adductor longus tendon of the right leg on September 23 and can be up to two months off. He decided not to undergo surgery, to have a chance to play in the World Cup.
- Juan Foith (Argentina): The Villarreal defender, with 15 matches for the Argentine National Team, suffered a post-traumatic contusion on his left knee at the end of August and would be low until mid-October, which is a departure from the competitive pace before the World Cup.
- Saleh Al-Shehri (Saudi Arabia): The Al Hilal striker, with 16 appearances and 8 goals for the Saudi Arabian national team, suffered Achilles tendon rupture in April and would very fairly make it to the World Cup on the usual recovery terms.
- Juan Musso (Argentina): The Atalanta goalkeeper, who was usually called up to the Argentina national team, had to undergo surgery at the end of September to displaced zygomatic fracture and it will be a month or more without action.
- Diego Godin (Uruguay): The Velez defender with 159 caps for Uruguay suffers from patellar tendinopathy which prevented him from playing more than 400 minutes in the last four months and led him to travel to Spain for treatment.
- Kalvin Phillips (England): The Manchester City midfielder, with 23 caps for England, was had shoulder surgery in mid-September after persistent pain there. He could make it to the World Cup, but without much football pace.
- Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain): The Real Sociedad winger, with 21 caps for Spain, suffered the torn ACL of left knee in March 2022 and has not played since, although he is close to completing his recovery.
- Jesus Corona (Mexico): The end of Sevilla, with 71 matches in the Mexican National Team, suffered it fracture of the fibula and ligaments in the left anklean injury that due to the usual recovery times should not allow him to play at the Qatar 2022 World Cup, although coach Gerardo Martino has not yet ruled out his call-up 100%.
- Paul Pogba (France): The Juventus midfielder, with 91 matches for the French National Team, suffered a injury to the menisci of the right knee in late July and, after choosing not to have surgery in the first instance, ended up having surgery in early September. He could make it to the World Cup, though with almost four months of inactivity at the top, so his call-up is in doubt.
- Florian Wirtz (Germany): The Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder, with 4 appearances for the German National Team before turning 20, suffered torn ACL of left knee in March 2022 and he hasn’t played since: he hasn’t been ruled out for the World Cup yet, but his call-up looks tough.
- Marco Reus (Germany): The Borussia Dortmund striker, who has 48 caps for Germany, missed the 2014 World Cup through injury in the previous weeks and it looked like his story would repeat itself at this tournament when he was injured in a match for his team midway through. -September, but avoided a fracture and only has one lateral ankle ligament injury which will allow him to play again in mid-October, without jeopardizing his participation in the World Cup.
