Netherlands star Xavi Simons out of World Cup and Tottenham's relegation fight because of injury
LONDON (AP) — Netherlands midfielder Xavi Simons will miss the World Cup as well as relegation-threatened Tottenham 's final Premier League games of the season after sustaining a right knee injury. In an emotional post on Instagram , the 23-year-old Simons — one of the best Dutch players at the European Championship in 2024 — said he is “heartbroken” and that “none of it makes sense. ” Simons screamed in pain and grabbed his knee following a challenge by Wolverhampton defender Hugo Bueno in the second half of Tottenham's 1-0 win on Saturday that renewed the team's hopes of staying in the top flight.
He was carried off on a stretcher. Simons wrote “my season has come to an abrupt end and I’m just trying to process it. ” “All I’ve wanted to do is fight for my team and now the ability to do that has been snatched away from me … along with the World Cup,” he wrote.
“Representing my country this summer … just gone. “It’ll take time to find peace with this, but I’ll continue to be the best teammate I can be. I have no doubt that together we’ll win this fight.
” Tottenham remained in the relegation zone, in third-to-last place and two points from safety, despite its first league win in 2026 and is in big danger of losing its top-flight status for the first time since the late 1970s. Tottenham has four games left this season. Simons, who joined from Leipzig for 60 million euros ($70 million) in the offseason, hasn't been a regular starter for Spurs but has been in the lineup in recent matches under newly hired manager Roberto De Zerbi .
He helped the Dutch reach the semifinals at Euro 2024 and was expected to be key for the team at the World Cup, where they're in a group with Sweden, Tunisia and Japan Their first match is against Japan on June 14. “I’ll walk this path now, guided by faith, with strength, with resilience, with belief, as I count down the days to getting back out there,” Simons wrote. “Be patient with me.