Tottenham Hotspur has endured a miserable 2025/26 campaign, and with just two games of the season remaining, there is a very real chance the club could shockingly be relegated to the Championship.
Spurs currently sit just two points clear of London rivals West Ham United, and with tough clashes against Chelsea and Everton still to come, survival is by no means guaranteed. There can be no denying that the club’s campaign has been destroyed by injuries for the second straight year.
Attacking midfielder Dejan Kulusevski hasn’t played all season, while a devastating ruptured anterior cruciate ligament has ruled Xavi Simons out for the next eight months at least. Both of them are confirmed to be out of the World Cup, but that is just the tip of the iceberg for Spurs.
As things stand, Spurs currently have eight first-team players out injured, and that is a number that has actually reduced in recent weeks following the returns of names such as James Maddison, Yves Bissouma, Lucas Bergvall, and Rodrigo Bentancur. Of those eight players currently on the shelf, five of them harboured genuine hopes of heading to the World Cup. Kulusevski and Simons will definitely not be in North America; that much has been confirmed, but what of the others? Let’s take a look.
Captain Cristian Romero was a crucial presence at the heart of Argentina’s glorious World Cup triumph in Qatar four years ago, starting all but one game at the heart of the defence and providing the perfect platform for Lionel Messi’s crowning moment. Fast forward to now, and online betting sites make the Albiceleste contenders once again. The latest World Cup odds at Bovada currently position the defending champions as an 8/1 fourth-favourite to successfully defend their title in North America, but if they are to do so, they will likely have to deal with the loss of Romero for at least a couple of games.
The Spurs skipper was downed with a knee injury in new manager Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge away at Sunderland on April 12th. A tentative return date was set for mid-June, when the World Cup will be officially underway. Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni will likely take the chance and select Romero despite the fitness concerns, especially because the 38-year-old Nicolás Otamendi is now the only experienced centre back available for selection. Bournemouth’s Marcos Senesi will probably get the nod alongside the Benfica man while Romero is out, even though he has just three caps to his name.
The World Cup futures board is LOADED 🌎🏆
🇫🇷 France +475
🇪🇸 Spain +475
🏴England +750
🇧🇷 Brazil +800
🇦🇷 Argentina +850
🇵🇹 Portugal +1000
🇩🇪 Germany +1500
🇳🇱 Netherlands +2200Who are you backing to win it all? 🔥 pic.twitter.com/sr10UGkZCo
— Bovada (@BovadaOfficial) May 12, 2026
Ghanaian sensation Mohammed Kudus was the star of the show for Spurs throughout the first half of the season as he scored twice and provided a further six assists. It’s no surprise then that their miserable downturn in form coincided with him picking up a hamstring injury in the draw against Sunderland in January. He suffered a setback in his recovery in mid-April, and Tottenham’s medical staff think that the former West Ham man will have to undergo surgery in order to fix the problem.
The 25-year-old is not only Tottenham’s main man, but also Ghana’s. He and Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo carry much of the hopes of the Black Stars at this summer’s World Cup, and he knows just how important he is to manager Carlos Queiroz. As such, he is seemingly unwilling to undergo the surgery that will certainly rule him out of the upcoming tournament and still has faint hopes of returning to some sort of manageable fitness level in order to feature for the Black Stars in North America.
Should he do that, then Spurs have to be wary of the attacking midfielder aggravating his injury and potentially spending even more time on the shelf. Should he feature at the World Cup and then undergo surgery at the tournament’s conclusion, he will likely miss much of the first half of next season as well.
England have a very real problem ahead of the upcoming World Cup in that none of their backup strikers behind former Spurs talisman Harry Kane are in any kind of form at all. Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel handed Dominic Solanke his chance in the disastrous friendlies against Uruguay and Japan, and while the Tottenham striker didn’t make much of an impression, he was still expected to be called up to England’s World Cup squad.
Then, Solanke suffered a hamstring injury in the thrilling last-gasp win away at Wolves, plunging his spot on the plane to North America into doubt. Luckily, however, the injury doesn’t seem to be as bad as first feared. Spurs expected Solanke to return to the pitch before the end of the season, either against Chelsea or Everton. As such, he is likely to be fit and ready for the World Cup. The question now is whether Tuchel selects him or heads in a different direction.
