Sheffield Wednesday's Yan Valery World Cup preparations start with defeat against 10-men
Yan Valery is preparing for this summer’s World Cup with Tunisia
Sheffield Wednesday’s Yan Valery suffered defeat for Tunisia in a pre-World Cup friendly against 10-man Austria on Monday night.
The 27-year-old started the game at right-back and played the full 90 minutes. Konrad Laimer, who plays his club football with Bayern Munich, was sent off in the first-half for Austria. But despite having a man less the hosts still won 1-0 thanks to a second-half strike from Borussia Dortmund’s Marcel Sabitzer.
The match in Vienna was Tunisia’s penultimate match before they begin their World Cup campaign later this month. They play Belgium in Brussels on Saturday in their final warm-up game.
Valery started each of Tunisia’s four matches at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year so he will be aiming to hold down his place again at this summer’s World Cup, which is being held in USA, Mexico and Canada.
Tunisia are in a group with Netherlands, Japan and Sweden, who they start against on June 15. Valery is set become the first Wednesday player to appear at a World Cup since John Sheridan represented the Republic of Ireland in 1994.
Valery spent the second-half of last season on loan at Swiss side BSC Young Boys. With Wednesday in League One, he is unlikely to be still an Owls player come the start of the 2026/2027 campaign. He still has one year left on his contract which means Wednesday will be due a fee, which could be significant if he shines on the big stage this summer.
The World Cup starts on June 11 with Mexico against South Africa. England kick-off against Croatia on June 16.