Nkunku ruled out of World Cup, Muani to replace him

Christopher Nkunku has been ruled out of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 in a significant blow to France.

Didier Deschamps has called up Eintracht Frankfurt’s Randal Kolo Muani to replace the Leipzig star.

Nkunku, who beat Robert Lewandowski and Erling Haaland to the Bundesliga Player of the Season award for 2021/22, has been in fine form, having scored seven goals in his last seven appearances for Leipzig.

“Injured in training, Christopher Nkunku drops out of the World Cup,” read a French Football Federation (FFF) tweet. “The whole group shares Christopher’s sadness and wishes him a speedy recovery.”

Nkunku, who is able to operate as an attacking midfielder or up front, was injured in training.

Muani only earned his first senior international call-up in September and has two caps to his name. The 23-year-old starred for Nantes last season and has scored five times in 14 Bundesliga appearances for Frankfurt this term.

Les Bleus’ formidable attacking options including Kingsley Coman, Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema.

France begin the defence of their World Cup crown against Australia on Tuesday, before taking on Denmark and Tunisia in Group C.