N’Golo Kanté, the French central midfielder, has been widely known for his acrobatic defensive skills and has been an integral part of the France National Soccer team and the English giant Chelsea.
The Premier League Player of the 2016-17 season has been out with a hamstring injury and has not played for Chelsea since August 2022. The Frenchman was substituted after 84 minutes against Tottenham Hotspur due to the injury.
Last Friday, the situation got worse because he hurt his hamstring again while training. Following a medical inspection in London, it is reported that the French midfielder will be unable to participate in any field activities until mid-January 2023, which means Kanté will also miss the upcoming FIFA World Cup, Qatar.
It will be a big loss for Chelsea too. While backing his player last Friday, Chelsea boss Graham Potter stated:
“Historically, there are things that have happened that are a concern. It’s a setback at this stage of this rehab, which is worrying, but all we can do is get the right diagnosis, get the right consultation and try and help him get back to full fitness and enjoy his football.”
Graham Potter on N'Golo Kante:
"Historically, there are things that have happened which are a concern. It's a setback in the last stage of his rehab which is worrying. We have to try get him back to full fitness and enjoying his football."
— Absolute Chelsea (@AbsoluteChelsea) October 14, 2022
But the French soccer team will suffer the most as their other main midfielder, Paul Pogba, has also been suffering from a knee injury and is recovering slowly. However, according to the rules, Didier Deschamps must announce the world cup squad of 23-26 players by November 9. Besides, he prefers players like Antoine Griezmann, who are less injury prone .
“Griezmann? Above and beyond the fact he’s playing consecutive games, which is wonderful for him, he may not be 20 but he takes very good care of himself, and managed to avoid different injuries he could have had.”
Didier Deschamps (France national team manager): "Griezmann? Above and beyond the fact he's playing consecutive games, which is wonderful for him, he may not be 20 but he takes very good care of himself, and managed to avoid different injuries he could have had." [via bein] pic.twitter.com/eOHVnW0AqK
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) June 19, 2021
The French manager has stated that no injured players will be called up for the tournament, which means France will be starting the world cup with no Pogba or Kanté in the squad against Australia on Tuesday, November 22. After that, they will face Denmark on Saturday, November 26, and Tunisia on Wednesday, November 30.
