This decision was made by the Dutch national team right before the friendly match with Uzbekistan. "Jurrien Timber has not yet recovered enough health after a groin injury to participate in the World Cup. After consulting with the medical team, we have decided that Timber will leave the national team training camp in New York after the match with Uzbekistan," the Dutch Football Federation announced.
Jurrien Timber suffered an injury at the end of the season when playing for Arsenal club. He has made efforts to train to return to play for Arsenal in the Champions League final against PSG.
In the context of Ben White's absence, Mikel Arteta was forced to put him on the field in the second half after Cristian Mosquera fouled Kvaratskhelia in the penalty area, leading to a penalty. Timber had to play until extra time and this caused his injury to recur, not recovering in time to play at the 2026 World Cup.
Jurrien Timber is a talented defender of the Dutch national team, who participated in the 2022 World Cup and reached the quarter-finals with his team. Due to a serious knee injury suffered after joining Arsenal, Timber was absent from the Dutch national team squad for EURO 2024. Now, he continues to miss the 2026 World Cup, unable to join his twin brother Quinten to play.
Dutch national team coach Ronald Koeman also immediately had a plan to replace Jurrien Timber by adding Lutsharel Geertruida. The versatile defender of Sunderland, who is being loaned from Leipzig, is in the reserve group. In fact, Lutsharel Geertruida played more than 20 minutes in the friendly match between the Netherlands and Algeria.
In the last friendly match preparing for the 2026 World Cup, the Netherlands team won against Uzbekistan 2-1, with Cody Gakpo's double from the penalty spot. In the upcoming tournament, the Netherlands team will play in a challenging Group F with Japan, Sweden and Tunisia.
