No Serious Injury for Chris Wood After Porto Tackle, Says NZ Coach

Wood injury scare, All Whites Captain subbed off in Europa League win

NZ coach Darren Bazeley says Chris Wood appears to have avoided serious injury after limping off in Nottingham Forest’s Europa League win vs Porto.

Forest’s Chris Wood limps off but New Zealand Boss hopeful Wood avoids serious injury vs Porto...

New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley said Chris Wood does not appear to have suffered a serious injury after the Nottingham Forest forward came off in their Europa League win over Porto before half-time on Thursday.

New Zealand’s captain and top scorer is expected to play a crucial role for the All Whites at the World Cup in North America, with their opener against Iran scheduled for June 1.

The 34-year-old, who only returned to action this month following a lengthy layoff due to a knee injury that required surgery, was substituted early in the first half after a heavy tackle by Porto defender Jan Bednarek, who was shown a straight red card.

Forest won the second leg of their quarter-final 1-0 to advance 2-1 on aggregate.

Nottingham Forest hold on 😤#UEL pic.twitter.com/gVF01Li6DV

— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) April 16, 2026

“While you obviously never want to see our players go down injured, the impact was on the other knee to where he recently had surgery,” Bazeley said in a statement to New Zealand media.

“He will be assessed by Forest but ‌it doesn't sound like it is as serious as it first looked, ‌thankfully.”

New Zealand will also face Egypt and Belgium in Group G as they return to the World Cup for the first time since the 2010 edition in South Africa.