(Reuters) – United States forward Brenden Aaronson will miss their final three matches of World Cup qualifying with a knee injury, U.S. Soccer said on Monday.
Aaronson, the only U.S. player to feature in all of their World Cup qualifiers so far for this year’s finals in Qatar, was injured in training at the weekend and will not have recovered in time for Thursday’s game away to Mexico.
“After reviewing the updated medical information and in consultation with Red Bull Salzburg, we have determined that Brenden Aaronson would not be available to play in the upcoming World Cup Qualifying matches,” U.S. Soccer said in a statement.
“We were hopeful he would be able to recover in time; unfortunately, that will not be the case. We hope he makes a speedy recovery.”
After 11 rounds of matches in the final phase of qualifying, unbeaten Canada (25 points) have a four-point cushion over the Unites States and Mexico. Panama are fourth with 17 points.
The top three teams will represent CONCACAF in Qatar while the fourth-placed finisher will face a team from Oceania in an intercontinental playoff for a place at the World Cup.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Ken Ferris)
