Mexico head coach Tata Martino has admitted that Raúl Jiménez could miss the 2022 World Cup with a groin injury.
Jiménez has missed the last three games for Wolves and was called into this month’s Mexico camp, but returned to England on Sunday after Martino revealed his injury was worse than initially expected.
“When I visited him 20 or 30 days ago, I never thought we would be in this situation,” Martino said last week.
“I didn’t think his injury was going to be this serious and I don’t think it is that serious, but it needs to be monitored closely.”
Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s friendly against Colombia, Martino said that Jiménez, along with winger Jesús “Tecatito” Corona, would be last-minute calls for El Tri’s World Cup roster.
“The only ones who will take us to the last minute are Jesús and Raúl,” Martino said. “When the medical staff asked me until when [we can wait], I told them November 16.”
Corona’s inclusion as a last-minute call counts as good news for Mexico, as the winger initially looked certain to miss the tournament when he suffered a broken fibula and a rupture of his ankle ligaments in August.
Sevilla said the winger would be out 4-5 months after suffering the injury in a training session. Should he be fit for the World Cup, Corona would have only missed three months.
[lawrence-related id=6745,6604]