Manchester City will be the most represented club at this year’s World Cup with 19 players heading to the international tournament
Manchester City stars Matheus Nunes, Erling Haaland and Nico O’Reilly will all be heading to the World Cup this summer(Image: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Manchester City full-back Matheus Nunes is an injury concern for Portugal as they step up their World Cup preparations. Nunes enjoyed a good season for the Blues as he established himself as the first-choice option at right-back. The 27-year-old made 49 appearances for City, including 34 in the Premier League.
After joining from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2023 as a midfielder, Nunes initially struggled for regular playing time. However, Pep Guardiola’s decision to transition him to full-back has paid off for the Portugal international and earned him a spot at the summer tournament. Unfortunately for Nunes, an injury has scuppered his preparations.
This evening, Portugal will take on Chile in their first warm-up game before the World Cup kicks off. But in his pre-match press conference, Portugal’s head coach Roberto Martinez confirmed that Nunes will miss the game. “Unfortunately, Matheus Nunes is not yet fit to train, so he is out of the squad for tomorrow,” he said.
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“It’s not the time to take risks. We hope Matheus will be fit for the second game against Nigeria.”
That second warm-up match will take place on Wednesday night, a week before their opening World Cup group stage match with DR Congo in Houston on June 17.
Nunes has plenty of competition if he wants to feature at this summer’s tournament. Former City full-back Joao Cancelo and Manchester United right-back Diogo Dalot have both been called up for the World Cup and will be vying for that spot in the team.
Nunes is joined in the Portuguese squad by his City teammates Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva. Bernardo, of course, left the Etihad Stadium at the end of the season.
City will be well represented at the World Cup. A tournament-leading 19 City players from the club will be featuring for their nations this summer.
This includes Abdukodir Khusanov, who will be representing Uzbekistan in the same group as Nunes’ Portugal. Those two nations will face each other on Tuesday, June 23 in Houston.
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