William Saliba was dealt a gut-wrenching injury blow early into France’s World Cup semi-final clash with Spain, which they went on to lose as their title hopes came crashing down.
The influential defender went down untouched on the ball and immediately looked dejected, with it quickly becoming apparent the Arsenal man would not be able to continue.
Stretching out his leg, he was treated by France team doctors before being substituted, though he was able to walk off without help.
Crystal Palace centre-back Maxence Lacroix replaced the 25-year-old for his second appearance this World Cup.
“That may be the end to William Saliba’s World Cup,” said former England forward Chris Sutton on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“He wasn’t under great pressure. He turned around and sat on the deck.”
Saliba had played every minute of this World Cup barring the 4-1 win over Norway in Group I, which saw Didier Deschamps rest numerous top stars with progression already secured.
His forced removal was as an incredibly untimely setback for Les Bleus, who were already trailing to Mikel Oyarzabal’s penalty opener.
They fell behind in the 22nd minute after Lucas Digne clumsily brought down Lamine Yamal in the area, and while there were questions of whether Yamal handled the ball in the build-up, VAR did not intervene.
Oyarzabal then converted from the spot to give Spain the lead, drilling into the net to beat Mike Maignan, who dived the right way.
Spain then doubled their lead after the break through an unlikely scorer, with Pedro Porro giving La Roja daylight.
Denied back-to-back World Cup finals, France’s tournament is not technically over with the third-place play-off now on the docket for Saturday, a game which Saliba faces a race against to be fit for.
But Arsenal will fear Saliba has suffered a long-term injury, whose 2025/26 season was maligned by numerous fitness setbacks which saw him miss a combined 12 matches for club and country.
Arsenal’s season starts with the Community Shield against Manchester City on 16 August before facing newly-promoted Coventry in their Premier League opener five days later.
