Will Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard make it to the World Cup? | OneFootball

Martin Odegaard has been missing in action for Arsenal in recent weeks, and he’s now also been left out of Norway’s squad for their upcoming pre-World Cup friendlies.

The Gunners captain is one of the best midfielders in the world on his day, and if not for some rotten luck with injuries he’d surely be one to watch with the Norwegian national team at the 2026 World Cup this summer.

Still, there must now be some doubt about whether Odegaard will definitely make it to the tournament after repeated fitness issues all through this season.

Norway’s World Cup schedule

There’ll surely be plenty of Norway fans starting to think about placing bets on how well their national side will fare at the World Cup and they can also look into a Norway casino guide for other online gaming options.

Unfortunately, fans travelling to the US might be disappointed to learn that Las Vegas won’t be hosting any games, though there should still be some other destinations for poker and other pass-times to keep supporters busy in-between matches.

Norway are in Group I along with France, Senegal, and an as-yet undetermined playoff winner, with some of those final slots yet to be confirmed for the tournament.

This is undoubtedly a challenging group so Odegaard’s potential absence through injury looks like a huge concern.

Still, Norway finished top of their qualifying group and kick-off their World Cup on June 16th, before then taking on Senegal on the 22nd and France on the 26th.

Two of Norway’s games are being played in the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, and the other is in the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.

Martin Odegaard’s recent injury woes

Odegaard has had five separate injuries that have limited him to just 28 games in all competitions for Arsenal this season, and it’s not clear if he’ll be able to play for them in this weekend’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester City.

See below for the various issues that have kept Odegaard out of the Arsenal side for so much of this season and which could yet see him miss his country’s first World Cup in 28 years…

Arsenal have coped well without Odegaard as Eberechi Eze has stepped up in his absence, but Norway’s World Cup squad would surely be significantly weakened without their star midfield player.

There’d still be Erling Haaland up front, but Odegaard is needed to pull the strings and to provide the Manchester City striker with the kind of service he needs.