Éder Militão to have surgery, will miss the 2026 World Cup with Brazil | OneFootball

Éder Militão, Real Madrid defender, will miss the 2026 World Cup with Brazil because he must undergo surgery this week in Finland for a hamstring injury in his left leg, which will require five months of recovery, according to reports from Spain.

Days ago, the center-back had already raised alarms for coach Carlo Ancelotti because last Tuesday he aggravated the injury during the match between Los Blancos and Alavés in La Liga. Although the injury does not seem so serious, it requires surgery because it affected scar tissue from a previous issue, so he has been ruled out of the tournament to be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

In fact, according to Marca, the 28-year-old footballer will be operated on by specialist Lasse Lempainen, a renowned expert who also treated AC Milan’s French defender Pierre Kalulu in 2023 and Uruguay’s Ronald Araújo in 2024.

When available, Militão was a regular starter for the Canarinha, although a ligament injury and other physical problems kept him out of the most recent World Cup qualifiers and also the latest friendlies, as he played against Tunisia last November and went off injured after 60 minutes, which caused him to miss the matches against France and Croatia.

The former Porto and São Paulo player has been plagued by physical problems for some time and they have not allowed him to find consistency, although his footballing qualities mean that, despite that, he remains important for Real Madrid and the Canarinha.

Over the last three seasons, he was only able to play 13 matches in 2023/24, 18 in 2024/25, and 21 in 2025/26 across all competitions, very low numbers that show his physical fragility.

Militão, who played in the 2022 World Cup with Brazil, was shaping up to be a guaranteed name on Carletto’s squad list for the World Cup, but the defender, who has 38 caps and 2 goals for his national team, will have to watch the tournament from home.

At the same time, in Brazil they are also hoping for Estevão, who suffered a grade 4 hamstring tendon injury, and they also know they will not be able to count on Rodrygo, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in his right knee at the beginning of March.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.