The run-up to the 2026 World Cup is shaping as much around rehabilitation as selection. Across Europe several of the game’s most influential internationals are carrying injuries that have already curtailed club seasons or left their participation in doubt.

Lamine Yamal’s hamstring problem has ruled him out for the remainder of the season with Barcelona, though the club have insisted he should feature at the World Cup. Estêvão and Arda Güler have also suffered hamstring injuries and been ruled out for the rest of their club campaigns at Chelsea and Real Madrid respectively. Reports say Güler is still set to appear at his first World Cup.

Some long-serving figures have been struck down too. Luka Modrić suffered a fractured cheekbone in AC Milan’s match with Juventus and will miss the rest of the Serie A season. Cristian Romero suffered a season-ending knee injury in Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge of Tottenham and was in tears at the time; his availability for the tournament remains unclear.

Mohamed Salah’s club season ended with an unflattering final touch for Liverpool, and his previous World Cup involvement in Russia was affected by fitness concerns after a dislocated shoulder in the Champions League final. Éder Militão has again gone down with a hamstring issue and has been ruled out for the rest of the club season alongside Güler, with recent reports suggesting his injury may be worse than first feared.

Mikel Merino has been absent since undergoing surgery on a fractured foot in January but is expected to be considered by Spain. Dejan Kulusevski is still working his way back after nearly a year out and admitted: “I haven’t played in a year. I know what the chances are,” and added, “But if there is one person on the planet who can do this, I would bet on myself. And we are not just going there to participate. Sweden will aim to be one of the best.”

Other concerns include Matthijs de Ligt, sidelined since November with a back problem but back on the grass at Carrington, Reece James with a fresh hamstring setback, Mohammed Kudus whose comeback was ended by a new quad issue and Joško Gvardiol after a broken leg in the new year. For all of them the coming weeks will determine whether they travel in June.

Egypt national team director Ibrahim Hassan has indicated Mohamed Salah will not play for Liverpool again this season after sustaining a hamstring injury. Hassan said he expects the 33-year-old to be sidelined for the remainder of the campaign, a prognosis that would rule Salah out of Liverpool’s final home fixture against Brentford on May 24.

“He has suffered a hamstring tear and will require four weeks of treatment,” Hassan told Reuters . Any absence of at least four weeks would keep Salah out beyond the season’s last match, and Hassan has said he expects that to be the case.

With the World Cup approaching and likely to be Salah’s final opportunity to represent Egypt on the global stage, the forward is expected to prioritise recovery ahead of the tournament, which begins on June 11. That timetable makes a return to action for Liverpool before the summer unlikely.

When Brentford travel to Anfield on May 24, supporters will be aware the match itself may have to play second fiddle to farewells. Left back Andy Robertson has joined Salah in declaring that game as the end of their respective Liverpool careers. While Robertson may still hope for a playing farewell, Salah appears set to miss the chance to leave the field in front of the home crowd.

Liverpool are planning a public tribute on the final day of the season. The club will parade Salah, dressed in street clothes, onto the pitch after the final whistle so he can deliver a parting message to supporters.

There is obvious disappointment that Salah will be unable to contribute on the pitch as Liverpool chase Champions League qualification, which is not yet secured. Reds supporters will hope the club have secured a top-five finish before the Brentford fixture.

One consolation is statistical. Salah’s tally of 193 Premier League goals leaves him fourth on the all-time list. He would have needed 15 more to match Wayne Rooney and 28 more to equal Roger Hunt for Liverpool’s second-highest goals total.

Arne Slot declined to offer a definitive diagnosis after Mohamed Salah pulled up with a muscular problem, saying only that the forward would require the “minimum time” to recover. Slot stressed the uncertainty around the issue while underlining Salah’s preparation and history of care.

Salah made it clear that he had damaged his left hamstring after sinking to the turf. The durable forward went more than two years between muscular injuries before pulling up with a problem back in March. Now he faces the prospect of successive layoffs over a matter of weeks at the end of his final season at the club.

“We don’t know. That is the best answer I can give,” Slot warned when confronted with a swarm of questions about Salah’s fitness immediately after the final whistle of Liverpool’s 3–1 victory over Crystal Palace on April 25. “If I say there might be a chance [he may not play again], that is probably all the headlines, that there might be a chance, so we simply don’t know.

“But what we do know is that the season in four weeks is over. Not a lot of games are being played so we have to wait and see how his injury is, if he can return to play.

“What I do know about Mo is he has taken so good care of his body all these years that he will have the minimum time required to recover from an injury and let’s hope for the best, that he is available in the last part.”

The Times cited reports from Egypt predicting Salah could miss about a month, a timeline that would put his availability for the season-ending fixture against Brentford on May 24 in doubt. Liverpool effectively have Champions League qualification assured and no other competition to play for across their remaining fixtures. Salah also has a World Cup with Egypt to consider in the summer.

Remaining fixtures:
Sunday, May 3 — Man Utd, Old Trafford
Saturday, May 9 — Chelsea, Anfield
Sunday, May 17* — Aston Villa, Villa Park
Sunday, May 24 — Brentford, Anfield

Salah will almost certainly miss the trip to Manchester United. At the time of the announcement of his Liverpool exit in March, only seven United players had scored more goals at Old Trafford than him across the entire 2020s.