Valverde missed Uruguay’s trip to India with an ankle sprain, and he has joined them for Argentina still not at 100 per cent
The Real Madrid captain says he still has discomfort after a run of injuries since September. Uruguay play Argentina at La Bombonera on 13 November and the Dominican Republic four days later.
Nov 10, 2026
Federico Valverde has joined up with Uruguay in Montevideo, and he has been open about the state of his body. “I got injured before the last international break, I had discomfort during some matches, and I still have it. I’m not at 100 per cent,” the Real Madrid captain told Sport 890. “But you always have to come and be here for the national team, and it’s good to be here.”
That is an honest answer, and not one José Mourinho will have enjoyed reading. Uruguay play Argentina at La Bombonera in Buenos Aires on 13 November, then the Dominican Republic in Maldonado on 17 November. Nothing he said suggests he wants to be rested for either.
The injury that kept him out of Kolkata
He also missed Uruguay’s trip to India last month. Valverde sprained his left ankle in the Madrid derby against Atlético in September, and Real Madrid’s medical staff diagnosed a grade three sprain. He stayed in Spain for treatment instead of travelling with Uruguay for the October friendlies, which included the 6-1 win over India at the Salt Lake Stadium on 6 October.
He has played since, though not freely. He was playing right-back in the Clásico at Camp Nou on 25 October when he felt the back of his right thigh, and he went off after 62 minutes of a 2-1 win. He was left out of the squad at Racing Santander on 1 November and started on the bench in Athens three days later. He came on there anyway and scored a 92nd-minute winner against AEK. On Saturday he was back in the starting XI at Mestalla and opened the scoring in a 3-0 win over Valencia.
Mourinho already had a fatigue problem
The timing is awkward for Madrid. Mourinho spoke about extreme fatigue in his squad after the Valencia win, and that was before his internationals left for their national teams. A captain carrying a niggle into two matches four days apart, with a trip across the River Plate in between, is exactly what a club’s medical staff dread during a break.
Uruguay are in a different place too. Marcelo Bielsa left after their early exit from the 2026 World Cup, and Diego Forlán has been in charge as interim coach since the summer. A trip to Buenos Aires is the sort of game a player like Valverde does not sit out, fit or not.
Madrid can do little but watch his minutes from Spain. If Valverde comes back from South America with the discomfort he took there, it becomes their problem, not Uruguay’s.