Barcelona star played with injury during 2026 World Cup | OneFootball

It has been a largely successful 2026 World Cup for Barcelona players so far, with 12 still left in the tournament ahead of the last 16 stage. But one of those eliminated is Frenkie de Jong, whose Netherlands side were defeated on penalties by Morocco earlier this week.

It was a difficult tournament for de Jong, who came in for criticism after the Netherlands were eliminated at the round of 32 stage. He struggled to perform at his best level over the four matches he played, although there was a reason for this, with Sport reporting that he was carrying a knock throughout his time in North America.

According to the report, de Jong was carrying pain in his knee for three of the four matches he played at the World Cup, against Sweden, Tunisia and Morocco. Despite this, he featured for 72, 59 and 110 minutes respectively across those fixtures, which is something that Barcelona will not be very happy about.

Optimism that de Jong will be fine for pre-season

Barcelona would have been made aware of de Jong’s situation, although they would have been able to do little about him playing for the Netherlands. Fortunately, it’s been reported that any knee issue will not be long-standing, and thus, he should be fine for pre-season, which gets underway in nine days’ time for the Catalans – de Jong won’t be present at the start anyway, he will likely return to Catalonia later in the month.

It’s positive news for Barcelona that de Jong is okay, as he will be a vital player once again for Hansi Flick’s side. He will be more important for the start of the season now that the Netherlands are out of the World Cup, given that fellow midfielders Pedri and Gavi are still there with Spain.