France face England in the third-place match of the 2026 World Cup at Miami Stadium, and manager Didier Deschamps will be without William Saliba for the occasion, as the defender got injured and was ruled out for this game.
In his place, Deschamps is expected to turn to Maxence Lacroix, who already stepped in for Saliba during the semifinal loss to Spain and is favored over Ibrahima Konate given his familiarity on the left side of central defense.
Saliba was Deschamps’ undisputed starting center back throughout the tournament alongside Dayot Upamecano, though it now appears the Arsenal defender was playing through his injury for the entire World Cup.
According to a report from RMC Sport, Saliba wasn’t just injured against Spain — he had been carrying the issue through the entire tournament, managing it well enough to keep playing until his body gave out on the sport’s biggest stage.
William Saliba #17 of France is attended to by medical staff after sustaining an injury vs Spain. (Getty Images)
What injury did Saliba suffer?
Saliba fractured a vertebra in his back during a Premier League match roughly two months before the World Cup began. Rather than pull out of the tournament, he elected to play through it, receiving daily specialized treatment from France‘s medical staff and taking painkillers throughout the competition.
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The injury finally caught up with him around the half-hour mark against Spain, when he had to be substituted in tears. He’s since been examined by doctors, who are still determining whether surgery will be required, meaning he’s expected to be out for an extended period.
It’s a situation that echoes what Samuel Umtiti went through for France at the 2018 World Cup, when the defender played through a serious knee issue rather than have surgery, helping Les Bleus win the title in Russia at a steep cost to the rest of his career.
