Matheus Nunes ruled out of Portugal's World Cup warm-up with injury concern

Matheus Nunes will miss Portugal’s first World Cup warm-up match against Chile after head coach Roberto Martinez confirmed the Manchester City full-back is carrying an injury that has prevented him from training.

“Unfortunately, Matheus Nunes is not yet fit to train, so he is out of the squad for tomorrow,” Martinez said in his pre-match press conference. “It’s not the time to take risks. We hope Matheus will be fit for the second game against Nigeria.”

That second warm-up fixture takes place on Wednesday, a week before Portugal’s opening World Cup group stage match against DR Congo in Houston on June 17.

The setback is a concern for the 27-year-old, who enjoyed a breakout season at City after Pep Guardiola converted him from a midfielder into a right-back. Nunes made 49 appearances in all competitions — 34 of them in the Premier League — after initially struggling for regular minutes following his 2023 move from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Even when fit, Nunes faces stiff competition for a starting berth. Former City full-back João Cancelo and Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot have both been called into the Portugal squad and will be pushing for the same position.

Nunes is one of three City players in the Portuguese squad, alongside Rúben Dias and Bernardo Silva — the latter having departed the Etihad Stadium at the end of the season. City as a club will be the most represented side at this summer’s tournament, with 19 players heading to the World Cup across various nations.

Among them is Abdukodir Khusanov, who will represent Uzbekistan in the same group as Portugal. The two nations are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, June 23 in Houston.