World Cup 2022 is officially one week old and yesterday was somewhat subdued from an Arsenal point of view.
football.london have been keeping tabs on how the tournament has started for the Gunners' stars and will continue to do so throughout their time in Qatar as manager Mikel Arteta will be hopeful his players return unscathed when the Premier League season resumes on Boxing Day.
Friday served up a case of friendships being put on hold for 90 minutes as England and USA shared the points in a goalless draw, but there wasn't much for Arsenal supporters to shout about on Saturday as an injury blow was confirmed and another World Cup debut was delayed.
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William Saliba was an unused substitute once again as France beat Denmark 2-1 thanks to a Kylian Mbappe brace to become the first nation at this year's tournament to qualify for the round of 16 stage and with a game to spare.
Takehiro Tomiyasu has confirmed that he will miss Japan's clash against Costa Rica this morning. The Arsenal defender emerged as a doubt after not training with his teammates on Friday, although his tournament is not over as he's eyeing a return for the final group game with Spain.
"During the Germany game, I felt uncomfortable (hamstring) as soon as I entered," he said, as per Gekisaka. "After the game, I took care of it and was also examined at the hospital. It wasn't that bad. The rest is the feeling. I don't think it's a problem. Realistically, I'm going to aim to return for the last match of the group league on December 1 against Spain."
Matt Turner took to Instagram to reflect on USA's draw with England, whilst some Arsenal supporters revealed their transfer hope after seeing Bukayo Saka and Jude Bellingham combine well in the aforementioned game, even if neither player hit the heights from the 6-2 win over Iran.
@ltarsenal said: "Saka and Bellingham combination so good. Hopefully one day at Arsenal", @adotdee suggested the 'Bellingham/Saka connection is gonna be (fire emoji) @arsenal" and @scott_muriuki said: "Saka and Bellingham are linking up pretty well. @Arsenal, I hope you're watching this."
Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale were unused substitutes against USA, so they were among the 14 players England players that were present for yesterday's training session in Al Wakrah along with James Maddison, whilst Saka and those who started the game took part in a recovery session.
Thomas Partey received a special visit from his parents as he prepares for Ghana's second group game against South Korea on Monday and his name was mentioned in a rather unrealistic transfer rumour involving a swap deal for AC Milan midfielder Ismael Bennacer.
Granit Xhaka said he was 'sharpening the tools' as he posted an image to Instagram from Switzerland's training session ahead of the meeting with Brazil where he'll go head-to-head with club teammates Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli.
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