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.
Nkunku suffered the injury in the final training session at Clairefontaine, which is the French national football centre, on Tuesday.
Reports state the RB Leipzig striker collided with Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, leaving him with an issue on his left leg.
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.”
A BIG BLOW FOR FRANCE
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.
Leipzig had lost their opening two group games in Europe, but turned their campaign around by winning four games in a row, including a 3-2 victory against Real Madrid.
France face Australia in their opening World Cup game on November 22, before playing Denmark and Tunisia.
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.
