At a glance
- Five Real Madrid starters worked out indoors in today’s training, including Bellingham and Mbappé, with Courtois and Rodrygo also sidelined
- The 2026 World Cup kicks off in June, and several Real Madrid key players are among the biggest names expected to star in the tournament
- A growing trend across European football suggests players are beginning to manage themselves with the summer in mind – not the club season
Real Madrid training concerns deepen as the World Cup looms
Real Madrid’s latest training session offered little reassurance ahead of a demanding run of fixtures, with five of Álvaro Arbeloa‘s most important players working indoors and away from the main group. Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé, Ferland Mendy, Éder Militão and Antonio Rüdiger all trained separately, while Thibaut Courtois and Rodrygo remain sidelined and Raúl Asencio is nursing a bout of gastroenteritis.
On its own, that is already a concerning picture. But there is a broader context that makes it harder to ignore.
The World Cup shadow over Real Madrid’s season
The 2026 World Cup begins in June. And several of the players currently absent from Real Madrid’s main training group are among the most important figures their national teams have. Mbappé is the focal point of the France squad. Bellingham is considered England’s most important tactical asset heading into the tournament. Militão, meanwhile, has his place in Brazil’s squad reportedly secured.
That matters because the incentives for these players are no longer purely aligned with club football. Clubs and players are increasingly coordinating to maximize World Cup roster chances, with the announcement timeline influencing how players approach the final months of the club season. A player on the bubble for their national squad has every reason to stay cautious. A player who knows they are going, and knows what is at stake, has every reason not to risk aggravating anything.
A trend that is becoming impossible to ignore at the Real Madrid training
This is not unique to Real Madrid. European clubs have already played at least 60 games within a single year. All this in one of the most demanding seasons in modern football history, and the physical toll is visible across every major squad. Bellingham has been managing a hamstring injury, with England coach Thomas Tuchel handling his return to fitness carefully. Mbappé has also struggled with injury issues this season, though France will be counting on him to be fully fit before the summer.
The trend is clear: players are arriving at April carrying knocks, and the calculus around risk is changing. Missing a league match is one thing. Missing the World Cup is another entirely.
What this means for Real Madrid
For Arbeloa, the challenge is significant. He cannot afford to burn out players who are prioritising their fitness for the summer. But he also cannot concede ground in a season that still has decisive fixtures to resolve. Training indoors does not automatically mean injury – load management has become standard practice at elite clubs. But when it involves five starters simultaneously, it suggests the squad is operating well below full capacity at exactly the wrong moment.
Rodrygo’s ACL injury has already ended his World Cup hopes entirely, a brutal reminder of what is at stake for every player still in contention. The others will know it too. And that awareness – however natural, however human – is now one of Real Madrid’s most complicated problems to manage.
