Peterborough United star 'in tears' injury rules him out of World Cup in huge blow

The devastating blow has been delivered on the eve of New Zealand’s first World Cup match.

Garbett has been ruled out of the entire tournament with a hamstring issue picked up during his country’s penultimate training session ahead of Tuesday morning World Cup opener with Iran.

He felt tightness in his hamstring while dribbling the ball at New Zealand’s training base at the University of San Diego on Saturday.

He has since been replaced in the squad Auckland FC forward Logan Rogerson.

Garbett admitted to being in tears while watching the 2-2 draw after suffering the toughest blow of his career.

He told New Zealand based news publication Stuff: “It was just a freak accident.

“I knew straight away when I did it [that my World Cup was over]. I’ve never had a muscle injury in my life. For it to be the first one and for it to be quite a bad one as well, it’s gut-wrenching. It’s been an emotional last 48 hours. A lot of tears. It’s hard to accept.”

“My parents are here and seeing them in tears … I was supposed to be starting to being ruled out of the World Cup, it’s not easy to take,” Garbett said.

“I’ve sort of gotten better over the day, but watching the game from the stands, there were some tears wishing I was out there. It’s not easy, but at the same time I want to support the boys.”

It had been reported that Garbett was expected to start the game against Iran but now the injury is expected to keep him out for at least a month.

A New Zealand team statement said: “All Whites attacker Matt Garbett has been ruled out of the FIFA World Cup 2026 after picking up a hamstring injury.

“The whole squad’s thoughts are with Matt at this time and we are gutted he won’t be able to play in the tournament.

“We look forward to seeing him back on the pitch soon.”

He has already been transferred out of the New Zealand squad to be replaced by Logan Rogerson from Auckland City FC.

Garbett was due to be the first ever player to appear at the World Cup finals while contracted to Posh.

Posh are still set to benefit financially from Garbett’s inclusion in the squad though. FIFA pays clubs £3,730 a day from the date they are released to participate in the tournament up until their country’s final match.

This is regardless of if they appear or not. The compensation scheme also applies to players who were named in the squad but were then replaced before the first match due to injury.

FIFA's mandatory date to release players was May 25, therefore the minimum a player can earn for their club is £119,500.