Paraguay star Diego Gómez says he feared the worst with World Cup injury scare

Paraguay international and Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Diego Gómez revealed he feared the worst after he landed awkwardly on his left knee during a 2-2 draw against Tottenham on April 18. Speaking to DSports on Monday, Gómez said he is not quite fully fit but he is now focused on representing his country at the World Cup this summer.

“I thought the worst, but thankfully it was not a serious injury,” he said. “Now I’m recovering and thinking about being 100 percent fit for the World Cup. When the injury occurred my first thought was the World Cup. I thought that I was going to miss the World Cup.”

Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler told reporters two days after the match against Tottenham that Gómez that a scan on the player’s knee showed that the injury “had not been that bad.”

“We have to go week to week,” Hurzeler said at the time. “It’s not an injury that will take him out for months. It is something with his knee.”

Gómez told DSports that if he’s fully fit, he’d like to play in Brighton’s final Premier League match against Manchester United on March 27; however, he added that there would be no point in featuring that day if he’s at risk of an injury.

“Honestly I feel really good right now,” Gómez said. “Hopefully I can play and I’m thinking about that last game if I’m fully fit, but I’m not going to risk anything at this point. But the goal is to play that game.”

Gómez, 23, is expected to be among Paraguay’s standout players this summer. As a box-to-box midfielder who also has a nose for goal, Gómez will be a player that Group D opponents will have to game plan around. His fitness scare comes at a time when all four nations in the group are sweating over some key names. The U.S. just lost Atlético Madrid midfielder Johnny Cardoso to an ankle injury, while Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah and Tanner Tessmann have all missed recent matches for their clubs. Turkey’s Arda Güler and Hakan Çalhanoğlu have been warding off muscle injuries, and Australia has concern over the availability of MLS-based midfielders Patrick Yazbek and Aiden O’Neill.

As for Gómez’s Paraguay, it will be the first opponent for the cohosts U.S., when they meet on June 12 at SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles. Gómez believes that Paraguay is at the same level as South American World Cup participants Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and Uruguay.

“We finished with the same points total as Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil,” Gómez said in reference to Conmebol 2026 World Cup qualifying. “We were always right there.” The former Inter Miami standout, though, had high praise for the U.S. side he’ll be facing.

“(The U.S.) is a great team and that will be a huge first match for us,” he said. “It’s against the tournament hosts. They’ll be at home. It’ll be a great game and it’s a great group, a difficult group that we’re in. We hope it works out for us in the best possible way. It’s an even group. All three teams could lose or win (against each other). All three games are going to be very difficult. We’re going to leave everything on the pitch. Our mentality is to go (to the World Cup) and make our country proud.”

In 2026, Gómez scored 10 goals for Brighton in all competitions. He became just the third Paraguayan player to score five or more goals in a single Premier League season. Roque Santa Cruz (19 goals in 2007-08 for Blackburn Rovers) and Miguel Almirón (11 goals in 2022-23 for Newcastle United) had previously set that standard.