• Injuries mount before kickoff
Kylian Mbappé is sidelined with a hamstring injury. Lamine Yamal is out for the rest of the season, and so is Brazil star Estêvão. There was also a scare when Mohamed Salah hurt his hamstring recently. But there are hopes they will be fit before the World Cup kicks off in June.
 
Injuries to some of soccer’s biggest names are mounting ahead of the World Cup, which starts in five weeks.
 
Mbappé is expected to play again for Real Madrid this month, and there is no suggestion his issue will rule him out of the World Cup. But every setback to France’s best player will be of concern to the national team.
 
Barcelona’s teenage sensation Yamal — recuperating from a leg muscle injury — is also expected to be part of Spain’s squad and appear at his first World Cup. And initial fears about Salah have been dispelled.
 
Others, however, have not been so fortunate.

France’s Hugo Ekitike sustained an Achilles injury in April that could take more than six months to fully recover, ruling him out of the tournament co-hosted by the United States,
Canada and Mexico and possibly the start of next season.
 
Brazil stars Rodrygo and Éder Militão are definitely out. So is Bayern Munich and Germany forward Serge Gnabry after injuring his adductor in training.
 
Meanwhile, the absence of Spain and Manchester City midfielder Rodri in recent weeks because of a groin injury is also worrying after he missed the majority of last season due to ACL damage.
 
City manager Pep Guardiola has given positive updates about Rodri’s recovery in recent days, and the former Ballon d’Or winner should play again this season.
 
Players and coaches have increasingly warned about the impact of an ever-packed playing schedule, and the expanded World Cup comes a year after the relaunched, supersized Club World Cup. The Champions League has also been expanded in recent years.
 
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta describes the demand on players as “an accident waiting to happen.”
 
Players definitely ruled out of the World Cup are Argentina’s Joaquín Panichelli (ACL), Brazil’s Éder Militão (hamstring) and Rodrygo (ACL), France’s Hugo Ekitike (Achilles), Germany’s Serge Gnabry (adductor), and Xavi Simons (ACL) of the Netherlands, as well as the United States’ Cameron Carter-Vickers (Achilles) and Patrick Agyemang (Achilles).
 
The ones to watch include Algeria’s goalkeeper Luca Zidane, the son of France icon Zinedine Zidane, who is a doubt after a facial injury during an on-field collision last month and Argentina’s Cristian Romero, who has been ruled out for the season with a knee injury.
 
It has not yet been confirmed if he is out of the World Cup, with Tottenham not giving a timeframe for his recovery.
 
Brazil’s teenage sensation Estêvão will not play again for Chelsea this month after a hamstring injury. There are conflicting reports as to whether he will recover in time for the World Cup.
 
Croatia’s veteran midfielder Luka Modrić, who broke his cheekbone last month, is expected to be available for the World Cup.
  
The same is the case of Morocco’s Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi, who has been sidelined with a right thigh injury.