Why aren’t stars Thuram, Calhanoglu, and Dumfries playing for Inter Milan vs. Monterrey in FIFA Club World Cup 2025?

Inter Milan were set to face Matchday 1 of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 against Monterrey to start their journey to avoid a trophyless 2024-25 season. However, fans were shocked after seeing that stars like Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Marcus Thuram, and Denzel Dumfries weren’t in the starting XI for such a key game.

With Simone Inzaghi joining Al Hilal after the defeat in the UEFA Champions League final, Inter were forced to act quick to cover the coach vacancy ahead of the Club World Cup. Among the names like Cesc Fabregas, Cristian Chivu ended up being the man chosen to manage the team for the next two season.

The game against Monterrey was set to be his debut as Inter boss, presenting a starting lineup full of stars. However, there were some key absences in the game that left the spectators in disbelief.

Stars absent due to injuries

Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Marcus Thuram, and Denzel Dumfries are the most notable absences among the players not included in the starting eleven. However, none of these absences are due to tactical decisions: all are sidelined for physical reasons, which have ruled them out either partially or entirely for this match.

In Çalhanoğlu and Dumfries’ cases, they were ruled out by Inter Milan’s coaching staff for this match — the former because he has not fully recovered from his recent injury, and the latter due to a recurrence of an adductor issue sustained during a training session leading up to the Club World Cup.

As for Thuram, the striker will be on the bench and may play a few minutes against Monterrey; however, he won’t start as he’s not yet fully fit after dealing with muscle discomfort over the past week.

It’s worth noting that the European side has already played over 50 matches this season across Serie A, Supercoppa Italiana, Coppa Italia, and the Champions League, and is now nearing the end of a grueling campaign.