Jarrad Branthwaite's season is over. And his place at the 2026 World Cup — something that looked within reach just weeks ago — is now in serious doubt after the Everton defender suffered a hamstring injury in the 87th minute of Sunday's Merseyside derby.
He left the pitch on a stretcher in tears. He was seen leaving the stadium on crutches. For a 23-year-old who has already spent the first five months of this season out injured, the moment was gut-wrenching to watch.
What happened in the derby
Everton lost 2-1 to Liverpool at Hill Dickinson Stadium, and Branthwaite's injury came in the dying moments of a game his side were already losing. He had been one of the better performers on the day — Everton manager David Moyes went so far as to say Branthwaite was "probably the best player on the pitch" before he went down.
That makes the timing even harder to take. He was having a good game for a team that desperately needed something from the occasion, and then in a moment, the season was done.
Moyes said after the match he was worried the injury "could be serious." The scan results delivered a message that was mixed but pointed in a difficult direction: no operation required, which is positive, but the injury is significant enough that Everton don't expect him to feature again this season.
The World Cup dimension
The timing matters beyond just Everton. England's World Cup campaign begins on June 17 against Croatia in the United States — less than two months away. The squad announcement will come before that.
Branthwaite made his senior England debut in a friendly against Bosnia-Herzegovina. He missed the Euro 2024 squad entirely. This was supposed to be his chance to force his way into Gareth Southgate's thinking for the World Cup, and he had been doing enough at club level to make the conversation relevant.
A hamstring injury sustained in late April, with no operation needed, gives him a theoretical window of around six to eight weeks for recovery. That makes the World Cup just about possible — but only if the rehabilitation goes perfectly and there are no complications.
England will be keeping close tabs on the situation. Branthwaite's combination of physicality, composure on the ball, and passing range makes him exactly the type of modern centre-back that suits how England like to play. But you can't take an injured player to a World Cup and expect them to contribute meaningfully at the business end of the tournament.
The context of his season
Here's what makes this particularly brutal: Branthwaite missed the first five months of the campaign with a different hamstring problem. He had surgery in October, worked his way back to fitness, and returned to the side in January. He'd been building good form when the new injury struck.
Everton confirmed the two problems are unrelated, which offers some slight medical reassurance — this wasn't a case of the repaired hamstring giving way — but it offers little comfort to a player who has spent most of his season watching from the stands or the physio's room.
What this means for Everton
The timing hurts the club too, though in the context of their season rather than World Cup ambitions. Everton sit 10th in the Premier League, just three points behind sixth-placed Brighton. European qualification is still a realistic target, and David Moyes' side need to finish strongly.
Losing their best central defender for the remaining weeks of the campaign is a serious blow. The players brought in to cover will need to step up. Moyes has done a decent job of managing a difficult squad this season, but backline stability has been crucial to whatever progress they've made, and Branthwaite was the anchor of it.
For now, the focus will be on Branthwaite's recovery rather than anything tactical. He's young, he's fit overall, and the medical news could have been worse. But football is a cruel game sometimes — and that stretcher moment on Merseyside is one of the harder images of this Premier League season.
Jarrad Branthwaite, 23, is an Everton and England centre-back. England face Croatia in their World Cup 2026 opener on June 17 in the United States.
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