Home / Football / Internationals News Real Madrid and Brazil star Rodrygo expected to miss 2026 World Cup through knee injury The news of Rodrygo's injury is a huge blow for the Selecao Written by Jon Fisher Last Update: March 3, 2026 04:52:41 pm GMT 3 min read Real Madrid and Brazil forward Rodrygo has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and is set to be sidelined for up to seven months, ruling him out of the World Cup, the club have confirmed. The Brazil international will undergo surgery, as confirmed by Los Blancos in a statement.Following tests carried out today on our player Rodrygo by Real Madrids medical services, he has been diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a torn outer meniscus in his right leg, the club said.The 25-year-old featured for more than 30 minutes after coming off the bench in Mondays 1-0 defeat to Getafe, but will now sit out for the rest of the season.Rodrygo becomes the fifth Madrid player to suffer an ACL injury since the summer of 2023. Thibaut Courtois, David Alaba and Dani Carvajal have all sustained similar injuries, while Eder Militao has endured two ACL ruptures in that period, in August 2023 and November 2024.He has scored three goals in 27 appearances this season, starting just six La Liga matches and two Champions League fixtures. His absence further stretches Madrids injury list. Jude Bellingham has been out since early February with a hamstring injury sustained against Rayo Vallecano, while Militao has also been sidelined with a hamstring problem since December.Top scorer Kylian Mbappe has been managing ongoing knee discomfort since December and recently travelled to Paris for additional assessment and treatment.Madrid currently sit second in La Liga, four points behind leaders Barcelona. They face Celta Vigo on Friday before hosting Manchester City in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on March 11, now without one of their key attacking options for the foreseeable future.Rodrygo statsRodrygo has contributed three goals and six assists in 27 appearances in all competitions for Madrid this season, starting six La Liga games and two in the Champions League.He played 54 times for Madrid in 2024/25, including 14 goals and nine assists, with 22 of his 30 games in La Liga as a starter.Five of those goals and two of the assists came in the Champions League, in which he started 10 times and was on the bench twice.In 2023/24, Rodrygo scored three more goals but provided three fewer assists in three fewer appearances, marking a decline from his best season yet for Madrid, which featured 19 goals and 10 assists in 57 games in 2022/23.The Santos youth product was directly involved in 25 goals in 80 appearances for his first club and went on to make his Brazil debut as an 18-year-old in 2019 before featuring at the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, where his opening penalty was saved in a quarter-final shootout defeat to Croatia.Brazil made him a regular in their 2024 Copa America campaign, although Rodrygo had been substituted by the time they lost a shootout to Uruguay in the quarter-finals. Topics: Brazil National Football Team Real Madrid CF Follow us: Jon Fisher Jon has over 20 years' experience in sports journalism having worked at the Press Association, Goal and Stats Perform, covering three World Cups, an Olympics and numerous other major sporting events. Read more from Jon Fisher
