Beth Mead (England women's team): The Arsenal striker is considered one of the best female players in the world. Therefore, her exclusion from the England women's team due to injury will be a heavy loss for Lionesses (the nickname of the England women's team).
At EURO 2022, Mead played extremely well, scoring 6 goals and having 4 assists, contributing greatly to England's championship at home. However, at the end of 2022, Mead suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear and was forced to miss a long time on the pitch.
Leah Williamson (UK): England women's team is the team most struggling ahead of the 2023 World Cup, when captain Williamson, who can play as a centre-back or midfielder, missed the world's biggest tournament due to an ACL injury. This is an irreparable loss for coach Sarina Wiegman's team.
Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands): The Arsenal striker has ended the 2021-22 Women's Super League campaign with 14 impressive goals and 8 assists, behind only Sam Kerr of Australia. As a player with high technique and dynamism, Miedema is an indispensable part of the Netherlands women's team and has scored nearly 100 goals for the team in the orange shirt. However, this striker suffered an ACL injury and was forced to say goodbye to the 2023 World Cup.
Catarina Macario (USA): The 23-year-old striker suffered an ACL injury in June 2022 in the final match of the 2021-2022 season for Lyon. Macario has scored 19 goals in 27 appearances for Lyon since 2021.
Macario underwent a rehabilitation process at anortistics and sports facility in Qatar but could not recover in time for the 2023 World Cup.
Marie-Antoinette Katoto (France): The 24-year-old striker of PSG has encountered a lot of bad luck in the international arena. In 2019, she was left out of the World Cup squad despite being the top scorer in the domestic league.
Last year, she became the club's all-time top scorer.
At EURO 2022, she suffered an ACL injury in the group stage, which forced her to miss the rest of the season with PSG and the World Cup this year.
Janine Beckie ( Canada): The 28-year-old striker has played for the national team more than 100 times, but will miss the 2023 World Cup, after suffering an ACL injury while playing for Portland Thorns in March this year. She previously won a gold medal with Canada at the 2020 Olympics.
Fran Kirby (England): Kirby's contributions have been very important for both Chelsea and the England team in the past few years. Goals against Northern Ireland and Sweden at EURO 2022 helped England succeed.
Kirby was shortlisted for the 2021 Ballon d'Or, as well as receiving the PFA Best Female Player of the Year award twice. At the age of 30, Kirby is the top scorer in Chelsea's history. However, she will miss the 2023 World Cup due to undergoing knee surgery due to a recurring injury.
Delphine Cascarino (France): This 26-year-old player has won 5 Champions League titles and 5 Division 1 titles with Lyon Feminine. However, the Lyon winger will miss the World Cup after suffering an ACL ligament tear.
