The World Cup is over, and clubs across Europe and Saudi Arabia are only now getting a real picture of who comes back fit. Mohammed Kudus is still without a confirmed return date after a quad problem that has dragged on since January. Kalidou Koulibaly, on the other end of the spectrum, is already cleared and due back at Al-Hilal’s training camp within days. For anyone piecing together the same picture, injury trackers on Afropari partners have become as routine a scroll as the transfer rumors these days – whoever gets their player back fit first usually has the early edge.
Egypt’s Mohamed Salah is a case worth untangling on its own, since the two stories around him – his exit from Liverpool and a hamstring injury earlier in the year – happened separately, not because of each other. He picked up the strain around a Brighton match in March and was back training and available again by mid-May. His Liverpool departure was a planned farewell tour that closed out with the Brentford game on May 24, tied to the end of his contract rather than any fitness issue. He’s currently a free agent, with reports linking him to clubs in Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and a decision on his next move is expected soon.
Who’s Already Back
Ghana has more good news than the headlines suggest. Forward Antoine Semenyo took a knock to the ankle late in the loss to Croatia and looked uncomfortable finishing the match, but Ghana’s coaching staff called it minor on the night and the player was back training and available for the Colombia game days later. Defender Jerome Opoku sat out that same Croatia match as a precaution after a groin strain against England – not because it was serious, just to avoid pushing his luck before the knockout stage – and the national federation confirmed him fully fit again before Colombia.
Achraf Hakimi’s case tells a similar story from the other side. He picked up a right thigh injury against Bayern Munich in a Champions League semi-final in late April, missed the second leg, but was back to play a full 120 minutes in the Champions League final on May 30. From there he started every one of Morocco’s matches through the World Cup, playing the full 90 minutes in several of them. A captain logging that many uninterrupted minutes tends to matter more to a club’s planning than any single tactical tweak – clubs and bookmakers alike watch that kind of return closely, since a fit regular starter changes far more than a lineup swap would.
Kudus’s Recovery Is Still Open-Ended
Tottenham’s version of events is more specific than it first looked. Kudus suffered a significant quad injury during the match against Sunderland back in January, not the hip-and-hamstring issue sometimes reported. He returned to team training in early April, then suffered a setback days later – the club said only that he would need further specialist review and, potentially, surgery. Whether that surgery actually happened hasn’t been confirmed publicly. People around the club expect him ready in time for the new season, but nobody’s said whether he’ll be fit for preseason training in July.
Ezzalzouli Never Made the World Cup at All
The story with Real Betis winger Ezzalzouli isn’t a group-stage injury – it happened before Morocco kicked a ball. He picked up a knee injury in a pre-tournament friendly against Norway on June 8, was diagnosed with a moderate sprain of the medial collateral ligament, and was ruled out of the entire tournament days later, before the opener against Brazil. Recovery was pegged at two to four weeks at the time, which puts him roughly on track for preseason, though no fresh club update has landed yet.
Other Camps Have Their Own Headaches
Ivory Coast lost defender Clement Akpa to an adductor injury picked up in training with Auxerre, and he was dropped from the tournament squad with Christopher Operi called in as cover. DR Congo’s Rocky Bushiri never made the World Cup either – he limped off with a suspected Achilles problem in Hibernian’s final league match of the season and was withdrawn from the squad before the tournament started, with Aaron Tshibola brought in as his replacement. Hibernian hasn’t put out anything fresh on his timeline for the new season yet. And Al-Hilal’s Kalidou Koulibaly, who missed two months with a thigh muscle tear and hematoma in April, made it back for Senegal’s World Cup campaign and is now set to rejoin Al-Hilal’s preseason camp on July 22, with the club granting him a bit of extra rest after the tournament run.
| Player | Club | Injury | Status |
| Mohamed Salah | Free agent (contract ended at Liverpool) | Hamstring strain (March) | Recovered since May, club undecided |
| Mohammed Kudus | Tottenham | Quad injury, setback in April | No confirmed surgery, timeline unclear |
| Abdessamad Ezzalzouli | Real Betis | Knee ligament sprain (pre-tournament) | Ruled out of World Cup entirely, preseason status unconfirmed |
| Clement Akpa | Auxerre | Adductor injury | Dropped from tournament squad |
| Rocky Bushiri | Hibernian | Suspected Achilles injury | Withdrew before the tournament, no fresh update from the club |
| Kalidou Koulibaly | Al-Hilal | Thigh muscle tear and hematoma | Recovered, rejoining preseason camp July 22 |
What to Expect in the Coming Weeks
The list will keep shifting as preseason friendlies get underway. The Premier League kicks off on August 21, and clubs with players still working back from the tournament will have to weigh the same question all summer – risk them for early points or wait a couple more weeks for a fully fit squad. Kudus and Ezzalzouli are the two names still genuinely open, without confirmed dates. Everyone else on this list, one way or another, already has an answer.
