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Players who missed this year’s football world cup due to injuries

The details of the last players who missed this year’s football world cup due to injuries have been mentioned.
- Marcus Reus (Germany)
Marcus Roos, unfortunately, had to withdraw from this year’s World Cup.
The 33-year-old also missed the 2014 World Cup due to injury and his team went on to win the trophy. Reus was coming back from injury and was set to be part of the 2022 World Cup squad when he suffered an acute ankle injury that forced him out of the tournament.
- Diogo Jota (Portugal)
Portugal’s main attacking player Diogo Jota was expected to play in their World Cup opener, but Jota picked up an injury during a league match for Liverpool in October.
Although Jota did not need surgery, his injury took time to heal and forced him out of the World Cup. The loss of Jota could have a huge impact on the Portugal team.
- Paul Pogba (France)
Paul Pogba can be known as one of the most important players of the French team and he will also miss the World Cup this year due to an injury.
Pogba underwent surgery on a knee injury in September and is uncertain of his recovery ahead of France’s title defence against Australia on November 22.
- Sadio Mane (Senegal)
Senegalese forward Sadio Mane was included in this year’s World Cup squad but was forced to withdraw two days before the opening day of the tournament on Sunday. Mane suffered a foot injury while playing for his club Bayern Munich earlier this month.
The news did not go down well with Senegalese sports fans. Senegal will play their first match against the Netherlands on November 21.
- Arthur Melo (Brazil)
Melo, who was a strong midfielder in Brazil, suffered a left thigh injury during training with the Liverpool team.
The injury occurred in October and Melo was left out of the World Cup squad.
The 22-year-old said in an Instagram post: “It comes after a lot of effort and a lot of hard work, I’m ready to establish myself in my new team and I’m playing at the World Cup without giving up fighting for my dream.”
The 22-year-old Melo has a great opportunity to play in the upcoming World Cup.
ආබාධ හේතුවෙන් මෙවර පාපන්දු ලෝක කුසලානය අහිමි වූ ක්රීඩකයන්
ආබාධයන් හේතුවෙන් මෙවර පාපන්දු ලෝක කුසලානය අහිමි වූ අවසනාවන්ත ක්රීඩකයන් පිළිබද විස්තර සදහන් කර ඇත.
- Marcus Reus (Germany)
මාකස් රූස් මෙවර ලෝක කුසලානයෙන් අවාසනාවන්ත ලෙස ඉවත් වීමට සිදු විය.
33 හැවිරිදි ඔහුට ආබාධයක් හේතුවෙන් 2014 ලෝක කුසලානයද අහිමි වූ අතර ඔහුගේ කණ්ඩායම කුසලානය ලබා ජයග්රහණය කිරීමට සමත් විය. රියස් තුවාලයෙන් පසු නැවත පැමිණීම සහ 2022 ලෝක කුසලානු කණ්ඩායමේ කොටසක් වීමට සූදානම්ව සිටියේ ඔහුට ඔහුගේ වළලුකරේ ඇති වූ උග්ර ආබාධයක් හේතුවෙන් ඔහුට තරගාවලියෙන් ඉවත් වීමට සිදු විය.
- Diogo Jota (Portugal)
පෘතුගාලයේ ප්රධානතම attacking තරගකරුවෙකු වන ඩියෝගෝ ජෝටා ඔවුන්ගේ ලෝක කුසලාන ආරම්භක තරගයේදීම දීම ක්රීඩා කිරීමට නියමිතව තිබූ ක්රීඩකයෙකු වූ නමුත් ජෝටා ඔක්තෝම්බර් මාසයේදී ලීග් තරඟයක් අතරතුර ලිවර්පූල් කණ්ඩායම නියෝජනය කරමින් පැවැත්වූ තරගයකදී ඔහු ආබාධයක්ට ලක් විය.
ජෝටාට ශල්යකර්මයක් අවශ්ය නොවූවත්, ඔහුගේ ආබාධය සුව වීමට කාලය අවශය බැවින් ඔහුව ලෝක කුසලානයෙන් ඉවත් කිරීමට සිදු විය. ජෝටා අහිමි වීම පෘතුගාලය කණ්ඩායමට විශාල බලපෑමක් ඇති කළ හැකිය.
- Paul Pogba (France)
ප්රංශ කණ්ඩායමේ වැදගත්ම ක්රීඩකයෙකු ලෙස Paul Pogba හැදින්විය හැකි අතර ඔහුටද අබාධ තත්වයක් හේතුවෙන් මෙවර ලෝක කුසලාන තරගාවලිය මග හැරී යනු ඇත.
දණහිසේ ආබාධයක් හේතුවෙන් පොග්බා සැප්තැම්බර් මාසයේදී ශල්යකර්මයකට භාජනය වූ අතර ප්රංශය ඔස්ට්රේලියාවට එරෙහිව නොවැම්බර් 22 වැනිදා තරග වැදීමට නියමිත අතර සිය ශූරතා ආරක්ෂා කරගැනීමේ තරගාවලියට පෙර ඔහු සුව වීම අවිනිශ්චිතය.
- Sadio Mane (Senegal)
සෙනගාලයේ සුපිරි ඉදිරිපෙළ ක්රීඩක Sadio Mane මෙවර ලෝක කුසලාන සංචිතයට ඇතුළත්ව සිටි නමුත් ඉරිදා තරඟාවලියේ ආරම්භක දින දෙකකට පෙර ඉවත් වීමට සිදුවිය. මේ මස මුලදී ඔහුගේ ක්රීඩා සමාජය Bayern Munich සඳහා ක්රීඩා කරමින් සිටියදී මානේ පාදයේ ආබාධයකට ලක් විය.
මෙම ප්රවෘත්තිය සෙනගාල ක්රීඩා ලෝලීන්ට එතරම් ප්රිය කළේ නැත. සෙනගාලය ඔවුන්ගේ පළමු තරගය නෙදර්ලන්තයට එරෙහිව නොවැම්බර් 21 වැනිදා පැවැත්වේ.
- Arthur Melo (Brazil)
බ්රසීලයේ මැදපෙළ ප්රබල ක්රීඩකයෙතු වූ මෙලෝ ලිවර්පූල් කණ්ඩායම හා පුහුණුවීම් අතරතුර වම් කලවයේ ආබාධයකට ලක්විය.
ආබාධය ඔක්තෝම්බර් මාසයේදී සිදු වූ අතර මෙලෝ ලෝක කුසලාන සංචිතයෙන් ඉවත් කර ඇත.
22 හැවිරිදි ඔහු ඉන්ස්ටග්රෑම් සටහනකක් තබමින් ප්රකාශ කර සිටියේ “එය පැමිණෙන්නේ විශාල උත්සාහයකින් සහ බොහෝ වෙහෙස මහන්සි වී වැඩ කිරීමෙන් පසුව, මම මගේ නව කණ්ඩායම තුළ ස්ථාපිත වීමට සූදානම් වූ අතර මගේ සිහිනය වෙනුවෙන් සටන් කිරීම අත්නොහරී මම ලෝක කුසලානයට ක්රීඩා කරනවා.”
වයස අවුරුදු 22 මෙලෝ හට ඉදිරි ලෝක කුසලාන ක්රීඩා කිරීමට විශාල අවස්ථාවක් පවතී.
காயம் காரணமாக இந்த ஆண்டு கால்பந்து உலகக் கோப்பையை தவறவிட்ட வீரர்கள்
உபாதை காரணமாக இவ்வருட உதைபந்தாட்ட உலகக் கிண்ணத் தொடரை தவறவிட்ட கடைசி வீரர்களின் விபரம் குறிப்பிடப்பட்டுள்ளது.
- மார்கஸ் ரியஸ் (ஜெர்மனி)
துரதிர்ஷ்டவசமாக இந்த ஆண்டு உலகக் கோப்பையில் இருந்து மார்கஸ் ரூஸ் விலகினார்.
33 வயதான அவர் காயம் காரணமாக 2014 உலகக் கோப்பையையும் தவறவிட்டார், மேலும் அவரது அணி கோப்பையை வென்றது. காயத்தில் இருந்து மீண்டு வந்த ரியஸ், 2022 உலகக் கோப்பை அணியில் இடம்பிடித்திருந்தார்.
- டியோகோ ஜோட்டா (போர்ச்சுகல்)
போர்ச்சுகலின் முக்கிய தாக்குதல் வீரர் டியோகோ ஜோட்டா அவர்களின் உலகக் கோப்பை தொடக்க ஆட்டத்தில் விளையாடுவார் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கப்பட்டது, ஆனால் அக்டோபரில் லிவர்பூலுக்கான லீக் போட்டியின் போது ஜோட்டாவுக்கு காயம் ஏற்பட்டது.
ஜோட்டாவுக்கு அறுவை சிகிச்சை தேவையில்லை என்றாலும், அவரது காயம் குணமடைய நேரம் எடுத்தது மற்றும் உலகக் கோப்பையிலிருந்து அவரை வெளியேற்றியது. ஜோட்டாவின் இழப்பு போர்ச்சுகல் அணிக்கு பெரும் பாதிப்பை ஏற்படுத்தும்.
- பால் போக்பா (பிரான்ஸ்)
பால் போக்பா பிரெஞ்சு அணியின் மிக முக்கியமான வீரர்களில் ஒருவராக அறியப்படுகிறார், மேலும் அவர் காயம் காரணமாக இந்த ஆண்டு உலகக் கோப்பையையும் இழக்கிறார்.
செப்டம்பரில் போக்பா முழங்காலில் ஏற்பட்ட காயத்தில் அறுவை சிகிச்சைக்கு உட்படுத்தப்பட்டார் மற்றும் நவம்பர் 22 அன்று ஆஸ்திரேலியாவுக்கு எதிரான பிரான்சின் பட்டத்தை பாதுகாப்பதற்கு முன்னதாக அவர் குணமடைவார் என்பது நிச்சயமற்றது.
- சாடியோ மானே (செனகல்)
செனகல் முன்கள வீரர் சாடியோ மானே இந்த ஆண்டு உலகக் கோப்பை அணியில் சேர்க்கப்பட்டார், ஆனால் ஞாயிற்றுக்கிழமை போட்டியின் தொடக்க நாளுக்கு இரண்டு நாட்களுக்கு முன்பு விலக வேண்டிய கட்டாயம் ஏற்பட்டது. இந்த மாத தொடக்கத்தில் மானே தனது கிளப்பான பேயர்ன் முனிச்சிற்காக விளையாடும் போது காலில் காயம் ஏற்பட்டது.
இந்தச் செய்தி செனகல் விளையாட்டு ரசிகர்களுக்குப் பிடிக்கவில்லை. செனகல் அணி தனது முதல் போட்டியில் நெதர்லாந்தை நவம்பர் 21ஆம் தேதி எதிர்கொள்கிறது.
- ஆர்தர் மெலோ (பிரேசில்)
பிரேசிலில் வலுவான மிட்ஃபீல்டராக இருந்த மெலோ, லிவர்பூல் அணியுடன் பயிற்சியின் போது இடது தொடையில் காயம் அடைந்தார்.
அக்டோபரில் காயம் ஏற்பட்டது மற்றும் மெலோ உலகக் கோப்பை அணியில் இருந்து வெளியேறினார்.
22 வயதான அவர் இன்ஸ்டாகிராம் பதிவில், “இது நிறைய முயற்சி மற்றும் கடின உழைப்புக்குப் பிறகு வருகிறது, எனது புதிய அணியில் என்னை நிலைநிறுத்த நான் தயாராக இருக்கிறேன், நான் கைவிடாமல் உலகக் கோப்பையில் விளையாடுகிறேன். என் கனவுக்காக போராடுகிறேன்.”
22 வயதான மெலோவுக்கு எதிர்வரும் உலகக் கோப்பையில் விளையாட சிறந்த வாய்ப்பு கிடைத்துள்ளது.
Football
FFSL Misses FIFA Opportunities Again Amid Concerns of Transparency and Inaction
While FIFA continues to invest heavily in global football development through initiatives like Forward 3.0 and Football for Schools (F4S), the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) once again finds itself lagging behind—not because of lack of funding opportunities, but due to its own failures in administration, planning, and transparency.
Millions Left on the Table
FIFA’s Forward 3.0 programme offers USD 8 million per member association for the 2023–2026 cycle—an increase from previous cycles. These funds are specifically allocated for operational costs and football development projects, including infrastructure, national team support, grassroots leagues, and more.
Under Forward 3.0, FIFA allocates:
- USD 5 million for operational costs
- USD 3 million for infrastructure and development projects
Yet, as of April 2025, FFSL has failed to fully leverage these funds. Most notably, Sri Lanka missed out on FIFA’s Football for Schools initiative, which offers USD 50,000, training content, digital platforms, and Adidas footballs for schools. Since the programme began in 2019, over 100 nations have actively rolled it out. Sri Lanka is not one of them.
Lack of Vision or Lack of Will?
Despite FIFA’s clear roadmap and generous funding, FFSL’s inability to fulfill the conditions required—such as active domestic leagues, functional youth structures, and proper digital systems—has blocked their eligibility for key fund releases.
The federation’s operations are also marred by repeated promises and half-baked publicity stunts. Take for example the international stadium project, which was announced multiple times across various locations—Port City, Negombo, and most recently Colombo—but not a single brick has been laid. These announcements appear to be more about media optics than serious project planning or execution.
Global Benchmark: A Stark Contrast
While other nations are making strides in football development using FIFA funds—as showcased in FIFA’s Member Associations in Focus – January 2025 (link)—Sri Lanka continues to fall behind. Countries like India, Nepal, and the Maldives have successfully hosted international matches, built infrastructure, and even expanded their youth programmes using Forward funding.
Meanwhile, FFSL’s financial practices continue to raise questions. A lack of clear audits, poorly executed projects, and insufficient stakeholder engagement have painted a picture of administrative incompetence.
Time for Accountability
As Sri Lanka’s football stagnates while the rest of Asia pushes forward, fans and stakeholders must demand greater transparency, professionalism, and action. It’s time the FFSL stopped making headlines and started building foundations—literally and metaphorically—for the future of football in the country.
Athletics
Sri Lanka Secures Three Medals at Asian U18 Athletics Championships – Day 3 Highlights
Dammam, Saudi Arabia – April 17
The third day of the 6th Asian U18 Athletics Championships in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, delivered a vibrant mix of speed, strength, and rising talent from across the continent. Set against the backdrop of Prince Nayef Sports City, over 400 athletes representing 31 nations competed with passion and purpose. Among them, Sri Lanka earned three spots on the podium with standout performances in track and field.
🌟 Sewmini Fernando was the star on the track, sprinting to silver in the Girls’ 100m final. Clocking an impressive 11.92 seconds, she finished just behind China’s Zhang Qian, in what was one of the evening’s most closely watched races. Her performance not only demonstrated raw speed but also Sri Lanka’s growing potential in sprint events on the Asian stage.
🥉 Meanwhile, in the Boys’ 1500m final, Lahiru Achintha displayed excellent race awareness and endurance, finishing in third place with a time of 3:59.47. His tactical approach and strong finish earned Sri Lanka a bronze medal, making him one of the standout middle-distance performers of the day.
🏅 In addition to these podium finishes, Janith Lakshan Jenkins leapt into medal contention in the Men’s U18 Triple Jump, claiming silver with a mark of 15.10 meters, just behind China’s Dong Zhiyuan.
Though only three athletes officially medaled on Day 3, performances across the board showed promise, heart, and competitive spirit — vital traits for building a strong future in athletics.
Stay tuned as Team Sri Lanka continues to compete and inspire at this prestigious youth championship.
🟡 Sri Lanka’s Medal Count – Day 3
🥈 Sewmini Fernando – Girls’ 100m
🥈 Janith Lakshan Jenkins – Boys’ Triple Jump
🥉 Lahiru Achintha – Boys’ 1500m
#SriLankaAthletics #AsianU18 #SewminiFernando #LakshanJenkins #LahiruAchintha #SriLankanYouth #Dammam2025 #TrackAndField #SriLankanSportsTV #PrideOfTheNation
News
Sri Lanka Names 25-Man Squad for Crucial Rugby Clash Against Malaysia
Sri Lanka Rugby has officially received the Sports Minister’s approval for a 25-member national squad, led by seasoned campaigner Nigel Ratwatte, ahead of the high-stakes playoff match against Malaysia. The game will determine qualification for the Asia Rugby Top 4 Championship, a key milestone in Sri Lanka’s bid for a spot at the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
The match, scheduled for April 19, is expected to be a fierce contest as the Tuskers aim to re-establish themselves among Asia’s rugby elite. A win would secure home games against South Korea and UAE, with the away fixture coming against Hong Kong.
The squad features a mix of experienced players and promising young talent, showing the depth of Sri Lanka’s rugby potential. Backline firepower includes Danushka Ranjan, Akash Madhushanka, and Janidu Dilshan, while the forward pack boasts names like Janidu Fernando, Pulasthi Dissanayake, and Lasindu Karunathilake.
Approved Squad for Malaysia Match
Forwards:
- Janidu Fernando
- Pulasthi Dissanayake
- Senura Perera
- Naveen Marasinghe
- Thilina Bandara
- Nizran Nillar
- Tharindu Chathuranga
- Lasindu Karunathilake
Backs:
- Heshan Jansen
- Nigel Ratwatte (Captain)
- Janidu Dilshan
- Akash Madhushanka
- Danushka Ranjan
- Dinal Ekanayake
- Mursheed Zubair
Finishers (Replacements):
- Vimukthi Gamage
- Nirosh Perera
- Mohamed Rifan
- Thenuka Nanayakkara
- Pasindu Bandara
- Thanuja Jayaweera
- Dahan Wickramarachchi
- Venura Kodagoda
Standby:
- Malitha Wijesundara
- Hirantha Perera
Team Management & Support Staff
- Chef De Mission: Udaya Hettiarachchi
- Team Manager: Rohan Chinthaka
- Head Coach: Sanath Martis
- Forwards Coach: Dushanth Lewke
- Backs Coach: Saliya Kumara
- Strength & Conditioning Coach: Tharaka Algama
- Team Doctor: Dr. Pradeep Kiriella
- Physiotherapist: Shafin Majeed
- Masseurs: Manoj Silva, Sanka Dilshan de Silva, L. P. P. Sameera
With preparations intensifying, the squad is in full training mode under the guidance of Sanath Martis and his coaching unit. The players are eyeing a return to the continental spotlight, and the nation will be rallying behind the boys in maroon as they take on Malaysia in this do-or-die battle.
Stay tuned to Sri Lankan Sports TV for full match coverage and updates.
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