Netherlands Key Player Ruled Out of 2026 World Cup With Injury

The Netherlands is expected to make a deep run this summer, but will have to do so without a key player.

Manager Ronald Koeman will have to find a suitable replacement for his star defender. | Roy Lazet/Soccrates/Getty Images

Netherlands star defender Jurriën Timber has been ruled out of the 2026 FIFA World Cup with an ongoing groin injury, the team announced Monday.

The fullback was included in the Dutch roster and final pre-World Cup training camp with the hope of a full recovery; however, he has not progressed quickly enough to be tournament ready and is now set to the leave the training camp after Monday’s friendly against Uzbekistan, which resulted in a 2–1 win. He will be replaced by fellow defender Lutsharel Geertruida, as each nation has up until 24 hours prior to its World Cup opening match to make injury-related swaps.

“The 24-year-old defender has not recovered sufficiently from a groin injury to take part in the World Cup in a medically responsible manner," the team said in a statement earlier Monday. “In consultation with the medical staff, it has therefore been decided that Timber will leave the national team's pre-camp in New York after the game against Uzbekistan.”

Timber picked up the injury nearly three months ago with club side Arsenal, missing out on the reminder of the domestic season in the lead-up to the Gunners’ historic Premier League win. He made his return to the pitch in the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain, substituting on in the 66th minute for right back Cristhian Mosquera. Timber played nearly an hour in the inevitable loss to PSG, including the half-hour of extra time ahead of the penalty shootout. Such a intense return to action likely did not aid the star’s recovery.

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Manager Ronald Koeman Addresses Timber’s Exit

Ronald Koeman takes charge of his first World Cup despite being Netherlands manager for nearly seven years. | ANP/Getty Images

“Over the last couple of days, we'd already had the feeling that this would be the decision,” Koeman said to Dutch broadcaster NOS. “In the end, we sat down with Jurriën late last night and again this morning, and unfortunately we had to make this decision.

“With Jurriën in the squad, we have eight defenders; without him, there are seven, and that's not enough. So you have to make a decision. We had Geertruida with the squad right up until the match against Algeria, so it wouldn't be too much of a struggle to bring him in.

“We didn't wait any longer because his situation wasn't expected to improve any time soon...He hasn't been fit for a long time and still has symptoms that aren't healing quickly, meaning he won't be match fit in the short term.”

25-year-old Geertruida, who played for Sunderland last season, was included in Netherland’s most recent March international window, logged 20 minutes in the friendly against Algeria on June 3 and has 21 total caps with the national team.

The Netherlands open World Cup play against Group F foe Japan on June 14, before clashing with Sweden on June 20 and Tunisia on June 25. The Oranje are the heavy favorites to win Group F.

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