Arsenal's World Cup Anxiety Grows as Saliba Injures Back

Arsenal’s World Cup anxiety deepened in Arlington as William Saliba limped out of France’s semi-final against Spain, clutching his lower back and with his club’s season suddenly feeling a little closer.

The centre-back, a cornerstone for both club and country, went down on the half-hour while in possession, immediately signalling trouble. There was no heavy collision, no dramatic tangle. Just a grimace, a hand to the lower back, and the unmistakable body language of a player who knew he could not shake this one off.

France were already 1-0 down by then. Mikel Oyarzabal had put the European champions in front from the spot after Lucas Digne misjudged a high ball and swung through Lamine Yamal in the box. In the Texan heat, with Spain in control and Les Bleus chasing the game, this was the last thing Didier Deschamps needed.

On the touchline, Maxence Lacroix was sent to warm up with urgency. The defender, on Chelsea’s radar this summer, went through a rapid set of sprints as France’s medical staff assessed Saliba. The verdict came quickly: he would not last the 90 minutes. Crystal Palace’s Lacroix replaced him before the interval, leaving Deschamps to reshuffle and Arsenal to wince from afar.

For Arsenal, the worry cuts deeper because this was not a bolt from the blue. Saliba had already admitted he had been managing a back issue throughout the tournament. Speaking before France’s group game against Iraq, the 25-year-old laid bare the reality of his season.

“I’ve had some minor niggles for several months,” he told reporters. “I’ve been gritting my teeth because there was the Champions League and the Premier League. But the coaching staff are handling it very well. The World Cup comes round only once every four years, so you’ve got to grit your teeth.”

That determination has carried him through a long, punishing campaign. It may now come at a price.

France lost a key pillar at the heart of their defence at the very moment they needed stability. Arsenal, watching their defensive leader leave a World Cup semi-final early with the same problem he has been nursing for months, will be asking a more uncomfortable question: how much more can he grit his teeth before something gives?