The U.S. men's national team will be without one of its key experienced figures in the build-up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
On Friday, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers announced that center back Cameron Carter-Vickers will be out between three and five months with an Achilles injury. The news comes after the 27-year-old played the full 90 minutes for Celtic in a 2–1 win over Sturm Graz in the Europa League.
“[Carter-Vickers] looks like he’s done his Achilles, which could be anywhere between three and five months,” Rodgers told Sky Sports Scotland.
“We just await confirmation of that. It’s not great news. Cameron’s been a very important part of the squad, of course, and been a great center half for the club.”
The American is now the second defender to suffer an injury in the match; Canadian fullback Alistair Johnston had to be removed in the 26th minute after seemingly reaggravating the hamstring injury that kept him out for over two months prior.
Carter-Vickers’s Injury Could Have 2026 World Cup Implications
The USMNT center back had been called up to Mauricio Pochettino’s squad for the October window friendlies against Ecuador and Australia. It was Carter-Vickers’s first camp since March’s Concacaf Nations League semifinals, but he did not log a single minute.
The last match he played for the USMNT was a loss to Johnston’s Canada in the Concacaf Nations League third-place game, one of the early hiccups of Pochettino’s tenure as USMNT manager.
With the Achilles injury, Carter-Vickers will miss at least November’s international friendlies against Paraguay and Uruguay, with his return slated for January at the earliest. Should his recovery take the full five-month timeline, he could be out until March, just three months before the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
After November, the USMNT won’t have any official friendly matches until at least late March, but it could still take part in a traditional January camp. The next competitive match the USMNT will play is its World Cup opener on June 12 at Los Angeles’s SoFi Stadium.
As for the center back role, Carter-Vickers’s absence could carve out opportunities for Mark McKenzie, Miles Robinson, his Celtic teammate Auston Trusty, veteran Walker Zimmerman or Bundesliga youngster Noahkai Banks.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as USMNT Defender Suffers Devastating Injury Ahead of 2026 FIFA World Cup.