Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey will miss their opening World Cup game after being denied entry to Canada.
The former Arsenal midfielder, who now plays his club football for Villarreal in LaLiga, was charged by the Metropolitan Police with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in July last year. Partey pleaded not guilty.
Partey was subsequently charged with two new counts of rape in February. The 32-year-old pleaded not guilty in April.
Ghana are set to take on Panama in Toronto on Wednesday, but Partey will play no part after his visa application was rejected.
A statement from FIFA read: “FIFA can confirm that player Thomas Partey will be unable to travel from Ghana’s team base camp in Boston, USA, to Canada for their first match against Panama on Wednesday, 17 June, as his visa application has been refused by the Canadian government.
“FIFA is not involved in the immigration processes of host countries, including the adjudication of visas. As with previous FIFA events, the host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and is admitted into the country.”
Partey’s trial for the seven counts of rape and one count of sexual assault was originally set to take place in November at Southwark Crown Court.
However, it is now expected the trial will be pushed back to 2027.
Partey made 167 appearances for Arsenal, including 52 in his final season in 2024-25. A LaLiga and Europa League winner with Atletico Madrid, Partey returned to Spain last year to join Villarreal, for whom he made 32 appearances in 2025-26.
The midfielder has won 58 caps for Ghana, scoring 16 goals. He featured for Ghana at the 2022 World Cup, which they exited in the group stage.
Ghana have no further group stage games in Canada, with their two other Group L matches against England and Croatia taking place in the United States.
However, should Ghana finish second in their group, then Partey would be unable to play in their round of 32 clash, which is scheduled to take place in Toronto.
