Why aren’t stars Çalhanoğlu, Thuram, and Dumfries playing for Inter Milan vs. Monterrey in FIFA Club World Cup 2025?
Inter Milan were set to face Matchday 1 of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 against Monterrey to start their journey to avoid a trophyless 2024-25 season. However, fans were shocked after seeing that stars like Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Marcus Thuram, and Denzel Dumfries weren’t in the starting XI for such a key game.
Stars absent due to injuries
Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Marcus Thuram, and Denzel Dumfries are the most notable absences among the players not included in the starting eleven. However, none of these absences are due to tactical decisions: all are sidelined for physical reasons, which have ruled them out either partially or entirely for this match.
In Çalhanoğlu and Dumfries’ cases, they were ruled out by Inter Milan’s coaching staff for this match — the former because he has not fully recovered from his recent injury, and the latter due to a recurrence of an adductor issue sustained during a training session leading up to the Club World Cup.
As for Thuram, the striker will be on the bench and may play a few minutes against Monterrey; however, he won’t start as he’s not yet fully fit after dealing with muscle discomfort over the past week. It’s worth noting that the European side has played more than fifty matches this season and is now approaching the end of a grueling campaign.
*Developing story…