PARIS – Eintracht Frankfurt striker Randal Kolo Muani will replace RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku in the France squad for the World Cup in Qatar, the French federation (FFF) said on Wednesday.
Nkunku was ruled out of the tournament after leaving Tuesday’s training session early with a left knee injury. A video circulating on social media showed him clashing with teammate Eduardo Camavinga.
Kolo Muani, 23, has made 23 appearances for Frankfurt in all competitions this season, scoring eight goals and recording 11 assists. He made his first two senior appearances for France in September’s Nations League games against Austria and Denmark.
“The Eintracht Frankfurt striker, currently in Japan with his club, will join the French team in Doha on Thursday morning,” the FFF said in a statement, adding that X-ray examinations on Nkunku “unfortunately revealed that it was a sprain”.
France will also be without injured defender Presnel Kimpembe, who was ruled out because of a hamstring injury.
They also lost Mike Maignan, Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante before the tournament but are still one of the favourites because of their strength in depth.
Les Bleus will be in Group D in Qatar with Australia, Denmark and Tunisia. They start their campaign against Australia next Tuesday at the Al Janoub Stadium.
With just a few days to go before the World Cup starts on Sunday, teams will all be hoping that there will be no further injuries to their players, while there are also some who will be in Qatar but are not yet fully fit.
Senegal forward Sadio Mane will miss the “first games” due to injury, a Senegal football federation official was quoted as saying by local media on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old striker was named last week in Senegal’s 26-man squad despite picking up an injury to his right fibula playing for his club Bayern Munich in the run-up to the tournament.
Netherlands striker Memphis Depay has declared himself fit, although he is not certain to start their first game against the Senegalese on Monday.
He trained with the team, who put in a session on Tuesday just hours after arriving in Qatar, having struggled with a hamstring injury for two months.
Wales forward Gareth Bale has also said he is “100 per cent fit and ready to go” after revealing on Nov 5 that he was not fully fit after coming off the bench to score a crucial late goal in Los Angeles FC’s Major League Soccer Cup final triumph over Philadelphia Union. REUTERS, AFP
