'Gutted!' - Liverpool star's World Cup dream in tatters

Liverpool’s injury crisis has struck another key figure, this time leaving Japan captain Wataru Endo facing an agonising race to be fit for the 2025 FIFA World Cup. The 33-year-old midfielder sustained a serious foot injury while deputising at right-back in Wednesday’s Premier League meeting with Sunderland, and manager Arne Slot confirmed on Friday that the veteran will be sidelined for “quite a long time,” with no precise return date yet established.

Endo’s setback is the latest in a season-long medical bulletin at Anfield. Goalkeeper Giovanni Leoni and defender Conor Bradley remain long-term absentees and will not play again this term, while striker Alexander Isak has only just resumed light training after fracturing a leg in December. All four players harbour international ambitions: Leoni’s Italy and Bradley’s Northern Ireland have been drawn together in next month’s European playoff, Isak’s Sweden meet Ukraine in their own qualifier, and Endo had been pencilled in to lead the Samurai Blue in North America after steering Japan through Asian qualifying.

Speaking to Liverpool’s official website, teammate Joe Gomez said the squad share Endo’s anguish. “I’m gutted for Wata,” Gomez stated. “He’s such a treasured part of this squad and we appreciate him so much. Who he is as a person and how he plays, I think that showed in him trying to carry on.” Gomez added that the prospect of a World Cup appearance could now fuel Endo’s rehabilitation. “Hopefully he comes back as soon as possible and has a chance to go to the World Cup.”

Signed from Stuttgart for around £12 million in 2023, Endo is contracted to Liverpool until 2027 but has started only twice in the league under Slot across the past two campaigns. Whether the club view the forthcoming months as an opportunity to reintegrate the midfielder or reassess his long-term role remains to be seen. For now, the priority is recovery and the hope that one of Japan’s most influential players can still take his place on the sport’s biggest stage.