Liverpool’s Conor Bradley out for the season with knee injury requiring surgery
Northern Ireland have been dealt a hammer blow ahead of March’s 2026 World Cup semi-final play-off against Italy with confirmation Conor Bradley is set to undergo surgery on a serious knee injury which will rule him out for the rest of the season.
While Bradley has not sustained an ACL injury, there is damage to the bone and ligaments in his left knee which the Press Association understands amounts to a “significant” injury.
The right-back, who was carried off late in Thursday’s goalless draw at Premier League leaders Arsenal, will have an operation in the coming days which means he will miss the remainder of both the domestic and international campaigns.
It leaves Bradley in a race to recover in time for this summer’s World Cup should Northern Ireland qualify through the play-offs – a final clash with either Wales or Bosnia & Herzegovina would await if Michael O’Neill’s men get past Italy in Bergamo.
Bradley had made 21 appearances for reigning Premier League champions Liverpool this season having missed a number of matches with a hamstring problem.
O’Neill will now enter a crunch clash without his standout performer – 22-year-old Bradley has already racked up 30 international caps and wore the captain’s armband at stages throughout Northern Ireland’s recent qualifying campaign.
He could also be without goalkeeper Pierce Charles, who was forced off during Sheffield Wednesday’s FA Cup tie against Brentford with a shoulder injury.
It was a similar issue which resulted in Charles missing almost four months of action earlier this season, including all six of Northern Ireland’s World Cup qualifying group stage matches.
O’Neill had hoped to call upon the 20-year-old for March’s international window, who made an impressive return with the Championship strugglers last month, but his involvement is now in doubt with Wednesday manager Henrik Pedersen revealing the shot-stopper was in “a lot of pain”.
“It's the opposite shoulder to the previous injury and he has a lot of pain,” said Pedersen. “After a scan tomorrow we'll know more.
“It's awful for him, he's such an important part of our way of playing, defensively and offensively.
“How he has played since he came back is fantastic. It's so sad if it's another injury that keeps him out for weeks or longer. I really hope the best for him.
“The priority is to find out what is the level of the injury for Pierce and then we take it from there.”