Randal Kolo Muani called up by France to replace injured Christiopher Nkunku for 2022 Qatar World Cup
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Updated 16/11/2022 at 09:13 GMT
Christopher Nkunku has been ruled out of the 2022 World Cup after he picked up an injury in France’s final training session before flying to Qatar. Nkunku reportedly collided with Real Madrid’s Eduardo Camavinga, and is to be replaced by Randal Kolo Muani. The World Cup begins in five days, with France’s first game on November 22 against Australia in Al Wakrah.
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France boss Didier Deschamps has called up Randal Kolo Muani to replace the injured Christopher Nkunku for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Nkunku suffered the injury in the final training session at Clairefontaine, the French national football centre, on Tuesday - just days ahead of the tournament.
Reports state the RB Leipzig forward 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.
His replacement, Kolo Muani, has just two caps for the senior side after making his debut earlier this year.
The 23-year-old emerged at Ligue 1 side Nantes before switching to Eintracht Frankfurt last summer.
He is on course for the best return of his career, with eight goals from 23 club appearances this term so far.
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.
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