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  "path": "/2026/06/09/eight-stars-seen-world-cup-dreams-cruelly-dashed-injury-28431359/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-09T04:00:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "Football",
    "Sport",
    "Billy Gilmour",
    "Brazil football team",
    "Estêvão Willian",
    "France football team",
    "Germany football team",
    "Hugo Ekitike",
    "Japan football team",
    "Netherlands football team",
    "Rodrygo",
    "Serge Gnabry",
    "Spain football team",
    "World Cup",
    "Xavi Simons",
    "gets underway on Thursday",
    "Sign up here",
    "Ekitike",
    "PSG",
    "Simons",
    "Estevao",
    "Gnabry",
    "Gilmour",
    "true extent of the damage",
    "Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source"
  ],
  "textContent": "The World Cup will be without some big names (Picture: Getty)\n\nPlaying at the World Cup is one of the proudest moments of any footballer’s career.\n\nBut for some of the biggest stars in the game, their World Cup 2026 dream has turned into a nightmare, with injury robbing them of the chance to appear in North America this summer.\n\nSeveral of these players have seen their dreams dashed agonisingly close to the start of the tournament, which gets underway on Thursday.\n\n**Metro** takes a look at some of the stars who will be forced to watch the action at home like the rest of us over the next few weeks.\n\n##  All the World Cup action\n\nGet everything you need to know about the World Cup – England updates, the games to watch and stories you missed – in five minutes, at 1pm, every day. Sign up here.\n\n## Hugo Ekitike – France\n\nEkitike (Picture: Getty)\n\nEkitike will be out of action until later this year following an Achilles tendon rupture sustained during Liverpool’s Champions League clash with PSG back in April.\n\nThe 23-year-old, who has since undergone successful surgery, had been enjoying a successful first season at Anfield after his £69m move from Eintracht Frankfurt last summer, with 17 goals scored in all competitions before his season-ending injury.\n\nEkitike would have been hoping to add to his tally of two goals for Les Blues, for whom he only made his debut for last September.\n\n## Rodrygo – Brazil\n\nRodrygo (Picture: Getty)\n\nRodrygo’s World Cup dreams were ended courtesy of a tear to both his ACL and meniscus.\n\nThe cruel double injury blow came minutes after coming on as a substitute in Real Madrid’s defeat to Getafe in March.\n\nRodrygo, who featured in all of Brazil’s games at the last World Cup, described picking up the injury as one of the ‘worst days of my life’.\n\n## Xavi Simons – Netherlands\n\nSimons (Picture: Getty)\n\nSimons picked up a ruptured ACL after jarring his right knee during Tottenham’s vital win against Wolves in April, with the 23-year-old describing his World Cup absence as ‘heartbreaking’.\n\nThe initial treatment offered to Simons by the club’s medical staff prompted outrage in some quarters, with footage going viral which showed the Dutch star jumping up and down to test the injury before collapsing in agony and subsequently being stretchered off the field.\n\nSimons was enduring a difficult first campaign in north London having joined from Leipzig last year but had begun to show glimpses of his undoubted talent in the weeks before his injury, scoring a goal and registering an assist in the previous game against Brighton as Spurs battled to retain their Premier League status.\n\n## Fermin Lopez – Spain\n\nLopez (Picture: Getty)\n\nLopez fractured his foot during Barcelona’s final home game of the season against Real Betis in May and has since had surgery.\n\nThe midfielder has enjoyed an outstanding season for the Spanish giants and played a pivotal part in helping Barca to land their 29th league title.\n\nLopez would have comfortably added to his seven caps this summer, and would have been eyeing his second major trophy having been part of the victorious Euro 2024 squad two years ago.\n\n## Estevao – Brazil\n\nEstevao (Picture: Getty)\n\nThe World Cup will be without one of it’s brightest young stars with 19-year-old Estevao sidelined with a hamstring injury.\n\nThe Chelsea player limped off in the 16th minute of the defeat to Manchester United in April and was in tears in the dressing room after the game.\n\nEstevao, who has impressed in his first season in English football after joining from Palmeiras last year, has established himself as a regular in the Brazil squad and scored four goals in his last four outings for the Selecao.\n\n## Serge Gnabry – Germany\n\nGnabry (Picture: Getty)\n\nThe Bayern Munich star will be restricted to a watching brief this summer following an adductor injury to his right thigh.\n\nThe ailment was sustained during penalty training with Bayern in April, with an expected return date yet to be revealed.\n\nGnabry played in all six of Germany’s World Cup qualifiers and has won 59 caps in total for his country.\n\n## Kaoru Mitoma – Japan\n\nMitoma (Picture: Getty)\n\nJapan will be without arguably their biggest talent for the World Cup after the Brighton player was ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury.\n\nMitoma picked up the complaint in the win over Wolves in May, with Japan boss Hajime Moriyasu saying his country had lost ‘a major presence’ with the winger.\n\nMitoma made his international debut in 2021 and has scored nine goals in 31 appearances since then.\n\n## Billy Gilmour – Scotland\n\nGilmour (Picture: Getty)\n\nGilmour suffered devastation in Scotland’s World Cup warm-up game against Curacao on May 30.\n\nThe midfielder’s knee injury did not prevent him from walking off the pitch at Hampden Park, but a subsequent scan revealed the true extent of the damage, which came 15 days before Scotland’s group opener against Haiti.\n\nGilmour took to Instagram and said: ‘I haven’t got the words to describe how I’m feeling right now. Being so close to a childhood dream of mine, to play in a World Cup, and now it has been taken away from me with an injury. It’s been a tough one to get my head around.’\n\nComment now Comments \nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "Eight stars who have seen their World Cup dreams cruelly dashed by injury"
}