Xavi Simons ruled out for the rest of the season and the World Cup after ACL tear
The news broke on Sunday. Xavi Simons will play no further part this season and will miss the 2026 World Cup with the Netherlands. The Tottenham forward tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on Saturday during the 1-0 win over Wolverhampton. Carried off on a stretcher after a challenge with Hugo Bueno in the 63rd minute, the 23-year-old Dutchman is not expected back until early 2027.
On Instagram, Simons spoke out the following day to lay bare his anguish. “My season ended in brutal fashion and I am just trying to process it. All I wanted was to fight for my team and now that chance has been ripped away from me… along with the World Cup.” He closed with: “I am heartbroken.” Words that sum up the scale of the blow for Simons, who had been looking forward to his first World Cup in North America this summer.
From a football point of view, it is a massive loss for Tottenham. Simons had managed five goals and six assists in 41 matches this season, establishing himself as one of the few bright spots in a disastrous campaign for the Spurs, who are currently 18th in the Premier League with 34 points. The London club are still fighting to stay up, and they will have to do it without him.
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Simons only adds to an already endless injury list for Roberto De Zerbi. Before him, Cristian Romero, Dejan Kulusevski, Mohammed Kudus, Wilson Odobert, Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, Pape Matar Sarr, Ben Davies and Dominic Solanke had already been sidelined. That is a long list of key players out at once, at a time when every point matters in the battle to avoid relegation.
For the Netherlands, the blow is just as painful. Simons had been tipped to be one of the main men for Ronald Koeman’s squad at the World Cup, which runs from 11 June to 19 July. His absence leaves Koeman without a player who can change a big game in an instant. It is a nightmare injury, arriving six weeks before the tournament kicks off.
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