00:00This year's World Cup is in danger of becoming a who-has-the-least-injuries World Cup.
00:04Here are some international stars who are currently missing from their club team
00:07and are in danger of, or are already confirmed to be, missing the World Cup.
00:12Mbappe, Eketike, Esteval, Yamal, Rodrigo, Gavardiole, Rhys James, Salah, Xavi Siemens,
00:18Kudus, Kulosevsky, Colwell, Romero, Militao, Ardegoula.
00:22So just a couple there.
00:23Of course, a race against time to be fit for the World Cup is not a new phenomenon.
00:27In fact, it can sometimes add to the drama of the whole thing.
00:30But the sheer volume of games means that the injury list will only get longer
00:34and those that are fit will be so exhausted from their domestic season
00:38that the quality of the football is likely to suffer.
00:41The World Cup is supposed to be the biggest collection of football stars in the calendar.
00:45That is in danger this summer.
00:46But does that really matter?
00:48One of the best things about the World Cup is discovering new players,
00:51youngsters getting their moment in the sun and engraving their names in football history.
00:56I remember watching Thomas Rositsky at the World Cup in 2006 and being mesmerised.
01:02James Rodriguez in Brazil 2014.
01:04Asamoz Jan in South Africa 2010.
01:06World Cup are for discovery.
01:08And does the injury pandemic in modern football open up more windows for exactly that?
01:13As long as it's a level playing field, I don't mind.
01:15The last thing we want is for a team to win by default purely because they have all their stars
01:19fit.
01:20Unless it's England.
01:21Then that's absolutely fine.
01:22Then that's the reality.
01:22We can keep on second.
01:22We can keep on first at it.
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