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Chelsea goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez has revealed he will never regain full closure of his right hand after competing in the 2026 World Cup with a fractured ring finger.
In a sit-down with Argentine journalist Gaston Edul, Martínez disclosed that he turned down surgery which would have ruled him out of the 2026 World Cup, describing it as a defining decision that ultimately altered the course of his career.
"My finger came apart during the Europa League final," the former Aston Villa shot-stopper said. "We returned to Birmingham, all in high spirits from the victory. My finger was in serious pain, so I went to the hospital where the scans revealed it was broken clean in half. I broke down in tears — I thought my World Cup was over."
"[Lionel Scaloni] had my back," Martínez added. "Together with Dani, Argentina's team doctor, we chose to skip surgery and play with a plastic cast, heavily bandaged, and adidas crafted me a custom glove."
"They repositioned the finger and the early days went well, since I was playing with heavy protection — because if it shifted out of place again, I'd be out of the World Cup. I played through it, but I could only feel four fingers."
"Had I gone through surgery and recovered over six weeks, the finger would've healed completely, just like the others. But now it's going to be this way permanently. I can't fully close my hand — if I wanted to throw a punch, I simply couldn't. I'll never be able to do it."
Martínez featured in every single minute of Argentina's 2026 World Cup campaign, acknowledging that the finger injury severely hampered his performance, noting that even the day before La Albiceleste's opening match against Algeria, he was "diving like a zombie, with just one arm."
After revealing he trained using a volleyball for most of the tournament, Martínez confirmed that the finger injury ultimately derailed a potential move to a Serie A club — widely believed to be Juventus — shortly after the World Cup concluded.
"The World Cup ends, I go on holiday and my finger just kept hurting and hurting," Martínez said. "But when the tournament finished, the finger appeared to be in place. I had an X-ray at Villa's doctor's request, and the finger had broken in half again — and that's when the transfer to another club fell through."
"Every doctor gave me a 10-week recovery timeline," Martínez added. "[The move to Italy] fell apart because of my finger — they said it was impossible for me to play in that condition and that I needed surgery. But not Chelsea. Chelsea didn't mind, and now I'm playing as if everything is normal. One day I'll need that surgery."
Emiliano Martínez Doesn't Remember Injury That Fractured His Jaw
With his move to Italy having fallen apart, Martínez did find a way out of Aston Villa, completing a switch to Chelsea in the dying moments of the summer transfer window and immediately establishing himself as the Blues's first-choice keeper despite his ongoing finger issues.
Just seven matches into his Chelsea tenure, however, he suffered another setback. Martínez clashed in the air with Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite while attempting to claim a free kick. The goalkeeper was rushed to hospital following the alarming collision, which left him with a fractured jaw and a concussion. The Argentine retains no memory of the incident.
"I'd rather it was the jaw than the head, to be honest," Martínez said. "It was one of the most spectacular knockouts — in the UFC, that would've been the knockout of the night. I was seeing stars for many days, honestly."
"The only thing I can recall was [Moisés] Caicedo's foul, and after that I have no memory of blacking out, the impact, leaving the stadium — nothing."
Four screws were needed to reconstruct Martínez's jaw, and he is still unable to eat solid foods. After spending most of his career relatively free from serious injury, the two-time Yashin Trophy recipient can hardly believe what he has endured over recent months.
"I don't remember who I told that I was going to finish my career without a single surgery," Martínez said. "That was my goal, and now I've had two fractures in two months — but that's football."
As severe as Martínez's jaw injury was, he also admitted it paled in comparison to the suffering he went through over the summer with his fractured finger.
"That pain was a level one compared to how bad I felt with my finger," Martínez said. "I was with the physio every night until midnight, crying because my finger had swollen up like a blood sausage."
Despite the finger ordeal, Martínez and Argentina came agonizingly close to retaining their World Cup title. Now, two weeks on from his serious injury against Everton, Martínez is nearing a return to action for Chelsea.