New sensitive loss for the World Cup. The French lose Leipzig striker Christopher Nkunku, who was injured in training last Tuesday and had to end his World Cup participation prematurely. The attacker accidentally collided with Real Madrid player Camavinga and after medical tests, the French team issued a statement explaining that Nkunku cannot participate in the World Cup and is leaving the camp due to a knee injury. His place will be taken by another striker who plays in German football, Randal Kolo Muani from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Injuries punish the reigning world champion. Nkunku’s latest defeat joins those of Kimpembe, Pogba, Kanté and Maignan, four other very important players in Didier Deschamps’ plan who cannot feature in Qatar. The French are framed in Group D along with Australia, Denmark and Tunisia.
Christopher Nkunku recorded 20 goals and 13 assists in the Bundesliga last season and his numbers are even better this season with 12 goals in 15 games. Deschamps loses another threat to reinforce a very talented attack with Karim Benzema, Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé as the main offensive references.
Despite the fact that France had already given the final list of 26 for the World Cup, FIFA allowed the move after Nkunku’s knee sprain. Kolo Muani leaves the Japan tour where he was with Eintracht and joins the French side this Thursday, making him available to the French coach for the first game against Australia on Tuesday 22 November.
Kolo Muani is 23 years old. He only played 12 minutes with the French team, split into two games, and his debut came on September 22nd. He has had a good start to the season at his club Eintracht Frankfurt, for whom he has made 23 appearances and scored eight goals: five in the Bundesliga, two in the Champions League and one in the DFB-Pokal.
The list of injuries that are important for the World Cup is getting longer and longer a few days before the start. Outside of France, other players such as Giovanni Lo Celso (Argentina), Reece James (England), Giorginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands) and Timo Werner (Germany) will not be able to take part in the World Cup due to injury.
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