Real Madrid star Rodrygo likely to miss 2026 World Cup after ugly injury

Mitchell Northam, USA TODAYTue, March 3, 2026 at 4:25 PM UTC

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Rodrygo seems unlikely to play in the upcoming World Cup this summer for Brazil after suffering a knee injury.

His club, La Liga powerhouse Real Madrid, said in a statement on Tuesday that the 25-year-old winger tore his ACL and meniscus in his right leg. Should Rodrygo have surgery, he would likely be sidelined for up to a year.

Rodrygo featured for Real Madrid on Monday, playing about 43 minutes as a second half substitution in the club’s 1-0 loss to Getafe. Since the summer of 2023, he’s the fifth Real Madrid player to suffer an ACL injury.

A native of Osasco, Brazil, Rodrygo came up in Santos FC’s youth system, and would eventually net nine goals and five assists in 41 matches for its senior team in Brazil’s top professional league. In 2019, he was sold to Real Madrid for a transfer fee that was reported to be in the ballpark of $40 million.

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Brazil – 23rd appearance

Rodrygo began his career with Real Madrid with a bang, notching a hat trick in a 6-0 Champions League win over Galatasaray. He set the record in the match for the quickest brace scored in Champions League play — just 14 minutes — and also became the youngest player in the history of the competition to notch a hat trick, doing so at the age of 18 years and 301 days.

Across all competitions in seven seasons with Real Madrid, Rodrygo has tallied 72 goals and 51 assists. Real Madrid is 19-3-4 this season, second in the La Liga table.

He has 37 appearances with the Brazilian national team — including featuring in all five games for them at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar — and has recorded nine goals and three assists for his country.

Brazil is set to open World Cup play on June 13 against Morocco at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Rodrygo injury update: Real Madrid star to miss World Cup with ACL tear

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Source: “AOL Sports”