Premier League player out of World Cup with injury and announces instant international retirement

Wataru Endo has announced his retirement from international football after being ruled out of the World Cup.

The Liverpool midfielder has withdrawn from the Japan squad with a foot injury on the eve of the tournament.

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Endo started his side’s warm-up match against Iceland on May 31.

However, he will now miss this summer’s World Cup in a major blow to the Samurai Blue.

The 33-year-old has been replaced in the squad by Borussia Monchengladbach’s Shuto Machino.

It comes ahead of Japan’s opening match of the tournament against the Netherlands on Sunday.

The two sides meet in Arlington, Texas, with kick-off at 9pm live on talkSPORT.

Endo statement

As well as missing the World Cup, Endo has subsequently announced his international retirement.

In a statement shared to X, he wrote: “As announced, I will be stepping away from the World Cup squad.

“Since my injury, I’ve done everything I possibly could up to this point, so I have no regrets whatsoever.

“Of course, there’s frustration at not being able to participate in this World Cup, but more than that, I’m proud of how we’ve grown together since the Qatar World Cup. Me as captain, leading this team and turning our goal of ‘winning the World Cup’ into something we can say as a matter of course.

“The current team is truly a wonderful team. I believe they will overcome any adversity and show us sights we’ve never seen before.

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“With this campaign, I will be retiring from the national team. So from here on, I’ll be cheering for the Japan national team as one of the fans.

“The moment when the Japan national team wins the World Cup will surely come someday. Let’s believe in that and cheer them on together.

“And let’s unite Japan’s strength as one so that moment comes in this tournament, everyone, let’s take on the North and Central America World Cup together! Everyone, give it everything you’ve got.”

Endo has scored four goals in 73 appearances for Japan since making his senior international debut aged 22 in 2015.

He was part of their squad at both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and captained the side on multiple occasions.

His latest injury setbacks comes after a three-month lay-off with an ankle injury, which ruled him out of Japan’s March friendlies.

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Endo was also limited to just 12 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions during an injury-hit campaign.

Following their opener against the Netherlands, Japan will face Tunisia and Sweden in Group F.

This summer’s finals represent their eighth World Cup appearance, having featured at every edition since their debut in 1998.

However, the 2002 co-hosts have yet to go further than the last 16.