France and RB Leipzig striker Christopher Nkunku will miss the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar, after being ruled OUT of the competition due to injury.
The 25 year-old limped out of Les Bleus’ session at their Clairefontaine base after being on the end of a late challenge by Eduardo Camavinga. Training footage obtained by French outlet RMC Sport appears to show the Real Madrid midfielder inadvertently catching Nkunku late in a 50-50 tackle.
Nkunku appeared to be caught on the ankle by the tackle, and he immediately showed his discomfort – sitting on the ground and shaking his hand at the pain.
He was initially said to be confident that he would still be able to make the trip to Qatar but following medical tests, France have confirmed that Nkunku will miss the tournament.
In a short statement, they wrote: “Injured in training, Christopher Nkunku must give up participating in the World Cup. The whole group shares Christopher’s sadness and wishes him a speedy recovery.”
The French squad are set to fly out to the Middle Eastern nation on Wednesday.
France get their World Cup campaign underway with a fixture against Australia next Tuesday in Al Wakrah. A match against Denmark will follow later on that week, before rounding off their Group D campaign with a clash against Tunisia on November 30.
French outlet RMC Sport has claimed that Eintracht Frankfurt striker Randal Kolo Muani is set to be called up by Deschamps as a late replacement for the injured Nkunku.
Apex Football News 