Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate withdraws from France duty due to thigh injury, Benjamin Pavard in
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France's Ibrahima Konate arrives ahead of training.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PARIS – Defender Ibrahima Konate has pulled out of the France squad due to a thigh injury sustained in Liverpool’s 2-1 English Premier League loss at Chelsea
He was an unused substitute during France’s 3-0 win over Azerbaijan
“Injured in the right quadriceps during his last match with Liverpool, Ibrahima Konate has followed a treatment and protocol since his arrival this Monday but will not be able to take his place against Iceland,” the French team posted on X.
“Benjamin Pavard is called in as reinforcement.”
France, who top the group after winning all three matches, visit third-placed Iceland on Oct 13. Liverpool, second in the Premier League, return to action at home to Manchester United on Oct 19.
The 26-year-old Konate is the second Liverpool centre-back to get injured in the past month, after Italian teenager Giovanni Leoni suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker also sustained a hamstring injury earlier in October, adding to the English champions’ injury issues in defence.
France will also be without their talismanic captain Kylian Mbappe.
Already suffering from a “small niggle” in his right ankle from playing for Real Madrid, the 26-year-old forward took two knocks during the win over Azerbaijan in Paris, where he opened the scoring but was substituted before the end of the match.
Mbappe “has been released to his club and will not be replaced”, the France team added.
His absence adds to the long list of forwards unavailable for October’s World Cup qualifiers, including Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Marcus Thuram and Bradley Barcola.
Elsewhere, Argentina’s Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez has also withdrawn from the squad due to inflammation in his right knee, the national team said on Oct 11.
The 24-year-old played the majority of the 1-0 win over Venezuela in a friendly in Florida on Oct 10.
The Argentina team posted on X saying that Fernandez had “synovitis in his right knee”.
Fernandez, who has scored three Premier League goals for seventh-placed Chelsea this season, is the club’s latest midfielder to pick up an injury, with Cole Palmer, Dario Essugo and Andrey Santos also sidelined.
Argentina play Puerto Rico in another friendly on Oct 14, while Chelsea visit Nottingham Forest on Oct 18. REUTERS
