Fran Kirby is the latest England player to be ruled out of the Women’s World Cup, with Chelsea saying the forward will be absent “for a significant period”. Kirby will undergo knee surgery after an injury sustained in Chelsea’s Continental Cup semi-final against West Ham in February.
England’s captain Leah Williamson is out with an ACL injury, Sarina Wiegman has said Beth Mead needs a miracle to be fit and Kirby – another important member of the team that won Euro 2022 – will not be able to travel to Australia for the tournament in July.
Kirby was deployed in the space behind the now-retired Ellen White at the Euros, providing England with much-needed creativity at No 10. Since her absence through injury, Manchester United’s Ella Toone has filled in, having made an impact off the bench in place of Kirby last summer.
Wiegman is light in that area, though, with the forward Rachel Daly the latest tested in the position, coming on in place of Toone in England’s 2-0 defeat by Australia last month. Other options include Aston Villa’s Jordan Nobbs and Lucy Staniforth, Manchester United’s Katie Zelem and Manchester City’s Laura Coombs. However, they have amassed few minutes under Wiegman.
After Chelsea, who have six games remaining in their push to retain the WSL title and also play in the FA Cup final, had said that Kirby “is set to undergo surgery”, Kirby tweeted: “I have been trying my best to not have to undergo this but unfortunately my progress has been limited due to the issue in my knee. I’m absolutely gutted to announce that this means my season is over and I will not be able to make the World Cup.”
After Kirby sustained the injury Chelsea’s manager Emma Hayes said it was “just a little bit of impingement in her knee. I think she will be all right.” Kirby was withdrawn from Wiegman’s squad for the Arnold Clark Cup the following day, with Nobbs replacing her.
Before Chelsea’s Continental Cup final defeat by Arsenal in early March, Hayes ruled out the return of Kirby, saying the 29-year-old had had a platelet-rich plasma injection and they had to wait for it to settle. “The way PRP works means that you have to give it a good week,” she said. “This is her second one. We’ll see how that pans out.”
Hayes said the forward had been “on the grass a little” before Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final draw with Barcelona at the Camp Nou last week but that she did not have a timeline for her return.
