November 4 – The injury list to key players is mounting just a fortnight before the World Cup, hitting preparations hard and fuelling the debate about staging the tournament in mid-season.
International managers will be naming their final squads in a matter of days and face some tricky decisions with a number of players either ruled out or fighting to be fit.
While absences are nothing new, club matches are continuing right up until a week before the competition gets under way with precious little recovery time.
France’s Paul Pogba, who was at the heart of the reigning champions’ success four years ago in Russia, has already been ruled out along with teammate N’Golo Kante who has undergone surgery on a hamstring injury.
Portugal will miss Liverpool’s Diogo Jota who faces months on the sidelines as well as Pedro Neto who misses out after sustaining ankle ligament damage playing for Wolves against West Ham
Argentina forward Paulo Dybala tore a thigh muscle while taking a penalty for Roma while England are sweating over the fitness of Ben Chilwell who this week joined fellow fullbacks Reece James and Kyle Walker on the injury list.
Germany’s Timo Werner is the latest to join the list of certain absentees after tearing ankle ligaments this week while those facing a race against time include Manchester United’s French defender Raphael Varane and South Korean captain and talisman Son Heung-Min who will undergo surgery on a fractured eye socket sustained in midweek playing for Tottenham at Marseille in the Champions League.
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