France’s Christopher Nkunku out of World Cup following training injury
France have announced that attacker Christopher Nkunku will miss the World Cup after picking up a knee sprain in training.
The 25-year-old came off worse in a collision with Eduardo Camavinga in Tuesday’s session at Clairefontaine, going down clutching his lower leg after both men challenged for the ball.
Nkunku was surrounded by concerned teammates and staff members before being helped to his feet, with manager Didier Deschamps among those coming over to check on the RB Leipzig man.
Nkunku hobbled off to cheers and applause from the French fans in attendance, and it was initially reported that the attacker did not believe he had sustained a serious issue.
However, having now undergone scans on the problem, France have now confirmed that the former Paris Saint-Germain attacker has been forced to pull out of the World Cup.
Nkunku joins a long list of notable injury absentees from the France squad, with Mike Maignan, Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante also watching on from home this winter.
Since announcing his squad, Deschamps has also lost Presnel Kimpembe to an Achilles injury that he has not fully recovered from, with Axel Disasi being called up in his place.
Nkunku was set to enter the World Cup with two assists from eight caps to his name in a France shirt, but he is still waiting for his first senior international goal.
Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, Karim Benzema, Olivier Giroud, Ousmane Dembele, Kingsley Coman and Marcus Thuram represent Deschamps’s remaining attacking options, with the latter being added as a 26th player earlier this week.
France begin the defence of their World Cup title against Australia on November 22 before meeting Denmark on November 26 and Tunisia on November 30 in Group D.
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