New Zealand suffered this injury blow ahead of their opening match against Iran, currently underway at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"All Whites attacker Matt Garbett has been ruled out of the FIFA World Cup 2026 after picking up a hamstring injury. The whole squad\u2019s thoughts are with Matt at this time and we are gutted he won\u2019t be able to play in the tournament. We look forward to seeing him back on the pitch soon,\" All Whites said in a statement. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 24-year-old midfielder, who has played 38 games for New Zealand and scored five goals, has been replaced in the 26-man squad by Logan Rogerson. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
Garbett suffered the injury during the All Whites\u2019 penultimate training session in San Diego on Saturday local time. He didn\u2019t train on Sunday before the team travelled to Los Angeles.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
During the pre-match conference on Monday, head coach Darren Bazeley did reveal Garbett is under an injury cloud ahead of the opening match.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cHe had a hamstring issue yesterday. So, at this stage he's being monitored by the physio department. We've got great medical people looking at him. He's obviously disappointed to not train today. He's a player that you know likes to train every single day. So yeah, that was tough for him, we're waiting to find out more medical advice on him at this stage,\" he had said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
During the pre-match conference on Monday, head coach Darren Bazeley did reveal Garbett is under an injury cloud ahead of the opening match.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
--IANS<\/p>\r\n\r\n