The Arsenal defender underwent surgery after the July 14 injury against Spain and is expected to miss four to five months, leaving Arsenal without a key centre-back for the start of the 2026/27 season.
William Saliba is expected to miss four to five months after undergoing surgery for a back injury suffered during France’s World Cup semifinal against Spain on July 14, a setback that is likely to keep the Arsenal centre-back out until around November or December 2026. Saliba was forced off after about 30 minutes, having gone down unchallenged and reportedly told teammates his back had gone before leaving the field. He was replaced by Maxence Lacroix as France reshuffled its defense. The injury has major implications for Arsenal because Saliba is one of the club’s most important defenders and had reportedly been managing a persistent lower back issue before the tournament. Reports cited in the article said the problem was known to Arsenal’s medical staff heading into preparations for the 2026/27 campaign and may have dated back roughly three years. The projected recovery timeline means Arsenal will likely begin their Premier League season in August without him and could be without him for much of the first half of the campaign. The article also notes that a Solana-based meme token called SALIBA was launched around mid-June 2026, before the World Cup injury, though it has extremely low trading volume and no official connection to the player.