France have been dealt another blow just five days before the start of the 2022 World Cup as Christopher Nkunku has been ruled out of the tournament due to an injury.
The forward was ruled out of the tournament after colliding with Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga at the French National Football Centre in Clairefontaine on Tuesday.
Nkunku, 25, was expected to play a big role in France’s World Cup defense after scoring 42 goals for German giants RB Leipzig since the start of the 2021/22 campaign. Yet a heavy challenge by Eduardo Camavinga is believed to have ended the striker’s hopes.
He joins N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba on the list of French stars who are out of the tournament in Qatar.
“Injured in training, Christopher Nkunku must give up participating in the World Cup,” read a statement from the French national team.
“The whole group shares Christopher’s sadness and wishes him a speedy recovery.”
Injured in training, Christopher Nkunku drops out of the World Cup. The whole group shares Christopher’s sadness and wishes him a speedy recovery 💙 @c_nk97
#FiersdetreBleus pic.twitter.com/cnpEtH4476— French Team ⭐⭐ (@FrenchTeam) November 15, 2022
Nkunku is the top goalscorer in the Bundesliga this season with 12 goals from 15 games, plus two assists.
He also helped Leipzig qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League with three goals in their final four games.
France face Australia in their opening World Cup game on November 22, before playing Denmark and Tunisia.
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The defending champions are expected to face a significant challenge to make it back-to-back titles due to their injury troubles and the quality of several nations including Brazil, Argentina and Germany.
