Japan’s Wataru Endo retires after injury ends World Cup 2026 dream

Japan’s captain Wataru Endo has been ruled out of the World Cup with injury and has announced his international retirement, three days before his team’s tournament opener against the Netherlands.

The Liverpool midfielder pulled out of the tournament after failing to recover from a foot injury, and was replaced in Japan’s squad by Borussia Monchengladbach’s Shuto Machino on Thursday.

The 33-year-old Endo said on social media that he was “frustrated” at not being able to play but backed his team to impress in Group F, where they face the Dutch, Tunisia and Sweden.

“There will definitely come a time in the future when Japan win the World Cup, so let’s believe in that and support the team,” he wrote on X.

“Let’s bring the strength of Japan together so that that moment can happen at this tournament in North America.”

He added: “I have decided to retire from the national team. From now on, I will be supporting Japan as just another fan.”

Endo suffered a season-ending foot injury playing for Liverpool against Sunderland in February but returned for Japan in a 1-0 friendly win over Iceland in Tokyo on May 31.

He came off at half-time and continued to feel discomfort at the team’s pre-World Cup camp in Mexico, where he was not involved in any full training sessions.