Jojo Wollacott (Ghana)
Ghana arrive at the World Cup as the lowest-ranked team in the competition and with an acute goalkeeping crisis on their hands. Their first choice, Charlton’s Wollacott, was a late omission after suffering a finger injury in the warm-up to Saturday’s League One game at Burton. With Richard Ofori, the second choice, also sidelined, the head coach, Otto Addo, has been forced to draft in three inexperienced keepers to the squad.
Reece James (England)
The Chelsea defender described himself as “devastated” after failing to convince Gareth Southgate that he was a risk worth taking. James was ruled out for eight weeks after damaging knee ligaments against Milan in October and underwent a gruelling rehabilitation programme in an attempt to be fit. He did not succeed, and is arguably England’s biggest loss.
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Miles Robinson (USA)
The Atlanta United defender played a key role in the qualifying campaign, building on his success at the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup when he scored the winner in the final against Mexico, only to rupture his left achilles tendon against Chicago Fire in May. The 25-year-old underwent surgery and is not expected to return until next year.
Presnel Kimpembe (France)
The French Football Federation hailed “the honesty of Presnel” after the Paris Saint-Germain defender informed Didier Deschamps on Monday that he did not feel sufficiently recovered from a hamstring injury to help the team’s title defence. The 27-year-old was one of the few French World Cup-winners to maintain his level at last summer’s European Championship. His place has been taken by the uncapped Monaco defender Axel Disasi.
Ben Chilwell (England)
Southgate has gone from having a feast of right-backs to a famine on the left after the hamstring injury that Chilwell sustained against Dinamo Zagreb earlier this month increased his reliance on Luke Shaw staying fit and in-form during the tournament. Chilwell did not make an appearance for England at Euro 2020 but was showing signs of returning to form following an ACL injury when his latest setback occurred.
Paul Pogba (France)
Pogba certainly lived up to the hype at the last World Cup when, unrecognisable from his Manchester United days, the midfielder was instrumental in France’s triumph on and off the pitch. There will be no repeat four years on, however. The 29-year-old has not featured for Juventus since returning to the club in the summer having undergone surgery to repair a torn meniscus suffered in pre-season. He then damaged a thigh muscle in training.
N’Golo Kanté (France)
Didier Deschamps will be without both of the central midfielders who started France’s World Cup final win over Croatia four years ago as Kanté is sidelined by a hamstring injury. The 31-year-old suffered the problem in August before joining Chelsea’s list of World Cup absentees when relapsing, and going under the knife, in October. None of the six midfielders in Deschamps’ squad were involved in Russia.
Giovani Lo Celso (Argentina)
Tottenham fans may not have witnessed the best of Lo Celso but he has been an important part of Lionel Scaloni’s plans in recent seasons and is a big miss for Argentina in Qatar. The on-loan Villarreal midfielder suffered a muscle tear against Athletic Bilbao last month and is expected to need surgery. Scaloni said Lo Celso was “irreplaceable”.
Marco Reus (Germany)
The luckless Borussia Dortmund favourite has been here several times before. When the 33-year-old was taken off on a stretcher with a serious ankle injury during September’s derby against Schalke there was despair and resignation around Signal Iduna Park. Reus missed Germany’s victorious 2014 World Cup campaign with an ankle injury, missed Euro 2016 with a groin problem, played in the poor World Cup defence of 2018 and missed Euro 2020 with fatigue. The derby injury makes it four tournament absences out of five.
Diogo Jota (Portugal)
“One of my dreams collapsed,” posted the Liverpool forward after a calf injury sustained in the closing minutes of October’s win against Manchester City shattered his World Cup ambitions. Jota had not long returned to the Liverpool side after a hamstring problem and is unlikely to be fit when the Premier League season resumes on Boxing Day. His absence, along with that of Wolves’ Pedro Neto, leaves Portugal more reliant than usual on Cristiano Ronaldo.
Timo Werner (Germany)
Playing more regularly in order to secure a place at the World Cup was one of the reasons Werner returned to RB Leipzig from Chelsea in the summer. The striker made an encouraging start, with nine goals in all competitions, only for an ankle ligament injury sustained the week before Hansi Flick announced his squad to derail those best-laid plans. Werder Bremen’s in-form Niclas Füllkrug has been called up instead.
