Chelsea goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez confessed he will never be able to properly close his right hand again after playing the 2026 World Cup with a fractured ring finger.

In an interview with Argentine journalist Gaston Edul, Martínez admitted he refused to have surgery that would’ve ruled him out of the 2026 World Cup, a life-changing move given he also stated that his decision to play with an injured finger later re-shaped his career path.

“My finger detached during the Europa League final,” the former Aston Villa goalkeeper said. “We got back to Birmingham, all happy because we had won. My finger hurt a lot, so I went to the hospital and they showed me the imaging and it was broken in half. I started to cry, I thought I wasn’t making it to the World Cup.”

“[Lionel Scaloni] supported me.” Martínez added. “With Dani, Argentina’s doctor, we decided not to have surgery and to play with a plastic cast, all bandaged up and adidas made me a special glove.”

“They put the finger in place and the first days I was doing well, because I played with so much protection, because if it moved out of place again I’d miss the World Cup. I was playing like that, but I could only feel four fingers.

“If I had surgery and then recovered for six weeks, the finger would’ve gone back to normal, same as the other one. But now it’s going to be like this for life. I can’t fully close my hand, if I wanted to punch someone I couldn’t do it. I’ll never be able to throw a punch.”

Martínez played every minute of Argentina’s 2026 World Cup journey, admitting the finger injury affected his ability to the maximum, saying that even a day before La Albiceleste’s debut against Algeria, he was “diving like a zombie, with just one arm.”

After revealing he trained with a volleyball for the majority of the tournament, Martínez confirmed that his injured finger prevented him from joining a Serie A club—presumably Juventus—soon after the end of the World Cup.

“The World Cup ends, I go on holidays and my finger hurt and hurt and hurt,” Martínez said. “But when I ended the World Cup the finger was in place. I did an X-ray because Villa’s doctor asked for it, and the finger was broken in half again, and that’s when a transfer to another club collapsed.

“Every doctor gave me 10 weeks [recovery timeline],” Martínez added. “[The move to Italy] collapsed because of my finger, they said it was impossible for me to play like that, that I needed surgery. But not Chelsea, Chelsea didn’t care and now I’m playing like its normal. One day I’ll need surgery.”

Emiliano Martínez Doesn’t Remember Injury That Fractured His Jaw

After his move to Italy collapsed, Martínez did find an Aston Villa escape route, joining Chelsea in the final hours of the summer transfer window, instantly becoming the Blues’s starter despite the state of his finger.

Seven games into his Chelsea career, though, he suffered yet another injury. Martínez collided in the air with Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite trying to collect a free kick. The goalkeeper was rushed to the hospital after the scary collision which left him with a broken jaw and a concussion. The Argentine has no memory of the incident.

“I preferred the jaw than the head to be honest,” Martínez said. “It was one of the most beautiful knockouts, in the UFC that would’ve been the knockout of the night. I saw birds flying around for many days honestly.

“The only thing I remember was [Moisés] Caicedo’s foul and then I don’t remember going out, the hit, leaving the stadium, nothing.”

It required four screws to put Martínez’s jaw back into place and he’s still not able to eat purées. After enjoying a relatively injury-free career, the two-time Yashin Trophy winner can’t believe what he’s gone through in recent months.

“I don’t remember who I told that I was going to end my career without a single surgery,” Martínez said. “That was my goal, and now I’ve suffered two fractures in two months, but that’s soccer.”

As gruesome as Martínez’s injury was, though, he also confessed it was nothing compared to the pain he endured over the summer with his fractured finger.

“This pain is a level one compared to how bad I was feeling with my finger,” Martínez said. “I was with the physio every night until midnight crying because my finger was a blood sausage.”

Injured finger and all, Martínez and Argentina got within minutes of defending their World Cup crown. Now, two weeks after his nasty injury against Everton, Martínez is close to returning to the pitch for Chelsea.